Hyrule Rewritten
by Arwen Wolfe
Summary: A fic with the basic plot of the video game The Legend of Zelda: OoT, but with Fleur and Hermione from Harry Potter as the main characters. The story is through the eyes of Fleur, who in this fic, is the destined hero of Hyrule. Femslash, please R&R!
1. Prologue

A/N: Here is the new story I was telling some of you about. I've put Fleur/Hermione in the game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and have changed minor things about the LoZ plot. Other than that, I have shamelessly taken lines directly from the game. In this chapter and those that follow, I claim to have no rights to the characters, locations, or general universe of which I write about. The rights belong to J. K. Rowling for Fleur/Hermione's sake, and the rest of the credit goes to Nintendo. I've put this prologue up to see what the initial response is, I have a few more chapters written, but plan to space out my updates. Well, here it is. Enjoy.

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><p><em>In the vast, deep forest of Hyrule... Long have I served as the guardian spirit... I am known as the Deku Tree...<em>

_The children of the forest, the Kokiri, live here with me. Each Kokiri has his or her own guardian fairy. However, there is one girl who does not have a fairy..._

Fleur Delacour shifted restlessly in her sleep. Her cozy treehouse had not felt like much of a home as of late. Something felt... out of place. Nightmares had plagued Fleur for the last couple of weeks. There was a sense of something amiss in the depths of her mind, but try as she may, Fleur simply couldn't put her finger on it.

She had always been different in comparison to the Kokiri. The forest children simply never grew up; the Great Deku Tree's magic kept them in their youth eternally. Fleur, however, was now 20 years old, and she looked it.

The young blonde changed positions in her bed again. This wasn't one of her usual dreams; this one was more realistic than the rest. She could hear that same ancient voice speak again...

_Navi... Navi, where art thou? Come hither..._

In the black that had taken over the sight of Fleur's sleeping mind, a small orb of blue-white light floated in the air, flying about.

_Oh Navi the fairy... Listen to my words, the words of the Deku Tree... Dost thou sense it? The climate of evil descending upon this realm... Malevolent forces even now are mustering to attack our land of Hyrule..._

_For so long, the Kokiri Forest, the source of life, has stood as a barrier, deterring outsiders and maintaining the order of the world... But... before this tremendous evil power, even my power is as nothing._

_It seems the time has come for the one without a fairy to begin her journey... The youth whose destiny it is to lead Hyrule to the path of justice and truth..._

The voice sounder weaker then, and became more distant- urgent, even.

_Navi... go now! Find our young friend and guide her to me... I do not have much time left. Fly, Navi, fly! The fate of the forest, nay, the world, depends on thee!_

The small orb danced about for only a second more before shooting off back into the blackness...


	2. Chapter 1

Navi the fairy soared from the Great Deku Tree's hollow and out over the village of Kokiri. Swooping low over the various houses and huts, Navi scanned the nearby forest for anything unusual, still feeling very much on edge from the Deku Tree's message. Finding her destination, Navi shot in through the open window of Fleur's house, and took in her surroundings. Navi found the place too untidy for her tastes, and upon finding a figure sprawled across the bed, wondered if this really could be the future hero of Hyrule. Still, she had to place her faith in the Deku Tree, and so she zoomed once more around the room and smacked into Fleur's sleeping form.

"Hey! Hey, get up!"

Fleur's only response was a light groan.

"Hey! Wake up, this is important!" Navi hit Fleur again.

With a twitch, Fleur slowly blinked her eyes open only to quickly shut them again when hit with Navi's emanating light. With some effort, the groggy girl managed to choke out a question into the night:

"Who or what are you and why are you in my house?"

With a final spiral, Navi settled at the foot of Fleur's bed. "I have been sent here by the Great Deku Tree to be your partner from now on! You've also been summoned to him!"

After a moment... "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're telling me that I have a fairy now?" Fleur's face lit up with hopeful anticipation.

"Yeah, you do. But come on! The Great Deku Tree has summoned you, and it's bound to be important! C'mon, let's go!"

"...It's a bit early in the morning, isn't it?"

"Don't be so lazy! The Great Deku Tree wouldn't have sent me here if it wasn't entirely necessary. Let's move!"

And with that, Fleur got up and out of bed. Stretching her limbs out, she yawned while trying to shake herself of her restless night. She figured the Deku Tree would explain why she was finally being given a fairy after all the years of living with the Kokiri, and why she was getting one even though she clearly wasn't a forest child herself. After putting on her tunic and belt, she laced her boots, tied her hair back and walked out the door. Stepping out onto the front platform of her treetop abode, Fleur climbed down the nearby ladder to the ground. The sun was just beginning to make its appearance in the sky, so it was in the early morning light that Fleur and Navi made their way across the village to the entrance of the Tree's hollow.

As they approached the entrance, two other figures came into view. It was Saria, Fleur's closest friend in the forest, and Mido, one of the more arrogant boys among the children. Mido was guarding the entrance to the hollow, leaving Fleur to wonder if he had ever been officially appointed the position, or whether he did it of his own free will. Fleur knew that although she and Mido never got along, she had to approach him nonetheless. Mido had never liked how Fleur wasn't one of the forest children, and never hesitated to bring up that fact, loud-mouthed as he was. He was only of the one people in the forest who actually made Fleur feel the negativity in being different.

"Mido, I need to see the Great Deku Tree. I've been summoned."

"Summoned. You. Summoned. Oh yes, of course." Mido then broke out into laughter. "You expect me to believe that? Anyway, even if the Great Deku Tree did summon you, you're not even fit to do anything for him! The least you could do is have a sword and shield with you! The Great Deku Tree should have summoned the Great Mido instead..."

Mido continued to trail off muttering insults at Fleur, who had turned her back to him and stalked away. Mido haughtily glared at her departure, while Saria followed Fleur far enough that they were out of his earshot.

"A sword and shield? Where in the world am I supposed to get that?"

Saria cautiously looked at her friend. "The Great Deku Tree has summoned you? He hasn't let anyone come into his grove in a long time. But I guess he's serious, you've even got a fairy and everything... I can't say I'm surprised... There's been something weird happening lately." Saria then looked to the sky as if it would hold an answer, and when she received none, turned her gaze to the forest floor.

Not really knowing what to make of Saria's comment, Fleur looked to Navi. "Where do I get this stuff?"

Navi bounced in the direction to the north. "It's said that there lies a unique sword and shield past a maze in the forest. We can look there and see if we can find it."

Fleur nodded then looked to Saria. "It's true that I've been summoned by the Great Deku Tree. I don't know what for yet, but what you said... about something being off... I feel it too."

Saria looked her friend square in the face and a look of determination spread across her features.

"I know you do. That's why I'm going to show you where to get what you need." Saria spun on her heel and hurried off where Navi had indicated just moments before. Fleur immediately rushed after her, Navi floating effortlessly behind. They travelled across the village, and into the woods a little ways on a trail Fleur had never taken before. An awareness was growing within Fleur- the air felt full of electricity here. It was something akin to the feeling that possessed her when she had all those strange dreams. The trees became much thicker in the space ahead, and Saria circled the perimeter of a thick band of trees until finally crouching at a low hole in between the roots of two trees.

"This is it. I'd heard the Kokiri sword and shield being talked about before, and the maze in this grove is said to hold them."

Fleur peered into the narrow path. She couldn't see much on the other side; the foliage made everything too dark to see.

"And you don't know what's in there?" Fleur looked at her friend.

Saria let out a sigh, "No, I don't. No one's been in there for ages, and you know yourself we were always discouraged from asking too many questions about these 'sacred places'. The Great Deku Tree never wanted us wandering in out of sheer curiosity."

"Yeah... I know. Well, here goes." Fleur took a couple of deep breaths, and with a wish of good luck from Saria, and a glance in Navi's direction, Fleur got on all fours and began crawling into the grove.

Emerging on the other side, Fleur's eyes took a moment to adjust to the lower level of light that the grove provided. She could hear a low rumble in the nearby area, and hoped it wasn't anything too serious. Stepping forward, Fleur tread lightly across the grass. Reaching a break in the trees and hedges, Fleur found her path was split. Choosing to go to her left she realized that this place was much bigger than what it looked from the outside. Picking up her pace, Fleur could hear the rumbling noise again. The noise almost seemed like it was getting louder... Fleur's path opened up again and the young girl glanced to her right just in time to see a giant boulder hurtling her way. With a yelp, Fleur dove from the path, roughly landing in the nearby bushes. Her heart was racing, and as she stood up she knew she had to be much more careful here. A mistake could clearly cost her life. Fleur started forward again, being sure to look round each corner while also keeping a sharp ear listening for that rumbling noise she now dreaded. After making her way through a few more passages, Fleur noticed that some paths had grooves in them, while others didn't. She deduced that the boulders were what made the grooves, so she quickly set herself a path that avoided the grooved trails.

A short walk later, Fleur was brought to a halt. A strange feeling had welled up inside her. Starting in her abdomen, it slowly rose into her chest. Fleur felt pulled by this new force, and by instinct alone let the feeling overcome her. She then walked forward and around a last corner to her right to be faced with a giant wooden chest resting beneath a lone tree in a clearing. Fleur walked up to the chest and rested her hands on the top. In her right mind again, Fleur could feel that the energy she felt from within the chest was the same energy she had felt just moments before. With a quick flick of the latch, Fleur flung the chest open to reveal that the gossip had been true: The Kokiri sword and shield did in fact exist. Letting out a sigh of relief, Fleur grabbed both weapons, swiftly belted the sword around her waist and lashed the shield to her arm.

Navigating her way back to the entrance was again no easy task, but at this point Fleur felt she had mastered the pattern of the boulders, and was able to dodge them and weave her way in and out of danger with nary a scratch. As Fleur crawled out from the grove, Saria extended her hand to help Fleur up from the ground. Brushing herself off, Fleur took in Saria's wide smile.

"You did it!" The girl exclaimed.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did." Fleur said with a mild look of surprise.

"Why the confused look?" Saria asked.

"Well, this is all coming on a little fast. It was, you know... actually dangerous in there. It's making me wonder what this trip to the Deku Tree is really for. Now that I think about it, I was woken up only a couple of hours ago by this fairy here who says I must immediately start putting my life at risk to go visit the Deku Tree. What's really going on here?" Fleur looked at Navi and waited for a response.

Navi hovered for a moment before slowly answering "Well, it's no walk in the park, I know, but what must be done must be done."

"Because that really answers my questions."

"I'm sorry, Fleur, it's the best I can do. You'll understand soon enough."

Saria shrugged and pointed back in Mido's direction. "I guess you should go find out, huh?"

Looking at them both, Fleur steeled herself and stood up straight. "Alright. Let's go."

Saria took Fleur's hand in her own and led the way back out of the deeper parts of the forest. They soon emerged back onto the outskirts of the Kokiri Village, and as they came upon Saria's house, the young Kokiri girl slipped her hand from Fleur's grasp.

"Well, I can't go in with you, as this is something obviously meant for you alone. Just promise me you'll be careful, okay? There's been an extra feeling in the air lately, and I can't explain it. Either way, I don't trust it."

The two friends shared an uneasy look. Fleur clearly wasn't the only one who had been having trouble sleeping at night. Fleur put on a smile and stepped in to hug her best friend. "I promise I'll be careful. It might not be so bad as you think, this might not be so serious. Maybe he's just explaining to me why I've been given a fairy!" Both Navi and Saria remained silent, not one of the three actually believing Fleur's statement to be true, Fleur included.

Saria pulled back from the hug and gave Fleur's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Well, whatever he wants... good luck."

Leaving Saria behind, Fleur headed back towards the hollow, and upon reaching the entrance only pushed Mido out of the way with her newfound shield while brandishing the sword and headed into a part of the forest where few had ever gone...


	3. Chapter 2

After getting past Mido, Fleur and Navi followed the pathway into the thick trees, away from the open air of the village. The further in they went, the more their surroundings changed. The trees were thicker here: they were older, taller and stronger then many of the trees Fleur had gotten to know in the forest. Fleur felt that the change here must have been due to the Great Deku Tree, as his magic permeated the entire forest, it must have had a stronger influence on the hollow. The vines and bushes here were also thicker and heavier-looking, and Fleur again felt that presence within her, of something ancient stirring inside.

"You have to watch out," Navi warned, "the foliage here is not like the kind you've known all your life. There is something bigger at work lately, and you must always keep your guard up, and be alert." Fleur replied with a quick nod of her head, and together the two pressed on.

They continued walking for another short while, picking their way over stumps and rocks before coming to a cleared trail that led even deeper into the woods. "This is it," said Navi, "this is the way to the Great Deku Tree."

Fleur stepped out onto the trail to continue walking and before she knew it, she could see a couple shadowy figures in the distance that appeared to be wriggling on the ground.

"Navi, what is that?" Fleur questioned.

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen anything quite like that around here before. I think our best bet is for you to draw your sword and for the both of us to press forward and check it out."

With a small gulp of air, Fleur reached back and pulled the Kokiri sword out of its sheath. At the sound of the metal leaving its case, the distant figures paused in their movement, only to resume their wriggling seconds later. Sword and shield at the ready, Fleur and her fairy slowly made their way up to the mysterious figures. Upon getting closer, the young woman could see that the figures were nothing more than plants.

These plants had stalks that were about as tall as Fleur herself, with a head that was bulbous and blue. The plants were on the ground, heads flopping around in a nonsensical manner. Taking another step closer, Fleur didn't even have the time to suggest that the creatures were harmless before both heads shot up from the ground and towards her. Stumbling backwards, Fleur lost her grip on her sword and fell to the ground. She had luckily landed out of the reach of the plants, but they still remained poised in her direction, heads now revealed a mouth of sharp teeth waiting to nip at her.

"WHAT ARE THESE!" Fleur yelled, breath now coming in short pants, having been wholly frightened by the attempt on her life.

"They look kind of like- no, no it can't be. This is strange... these weren't here earlier..." Navi replied. The fairy deliberated for a moment before continuing, "I guess we have to get past them, though."

With some sarcasm, Fleur answered with "Hmm, yeah this is EXACTLY what I was going to do with my day." The young blonde then stood, dusted herself off, and picked her sword up off the nearby ground. Testing the waters, she moved a little closer to the plants to see how close they could actually get to her. She took another step, and like trained dogs, the plant monsters quickly renewed their vigor in trying to reach the girl. As they snapped and flashed their fangs at Fleur, she raised her sword, closed her eyes for a moment, and with a newfound determination, opened her bright blue eyes and swung the sword down hard across the head of each plant. Lifeless blue heads fell unceremoniously to the ground, and the plants were finished.

Careful not to let her guard down, Fleur then moved forward, and as the pair moved along the path, Fleur had a chance to practice her sword skills on more of the ravenous blue-headed plants that were strewn all down the trail. Getting a little more daring, as they came upon the last plant before the clearing ahead, Fleur dashed forward, dodged the head to its right, then spun around and with a flash of steel, severed the stalk in two.

"You're getting the hang of this, aren't you?" Navi commented with an inward smile.

"I guess I am." Fleur responded with a grin.

Fleur then approached the entrance to the clearing, and took in the grand sight before her. An enormous tree stood in the centre of the clearing: this was clearly the ancient Great Deku Tree. It rose farther into the forests' canopy than any other, and it stood with such an air of authority, of ancient knowledge, and of life, that Fleur was stricken quite speechless. The forest floor surrounding the tree was littered with the blue plants that were found on the trail, as well as other creatures that Fleur assumed were equally as dangerous. Navi flew into the clearing, leaving Fleur at the entrance, and the little blue-white fairy hovered high in the air before the massive tree.

"Great Deku Tree... I'm back!"

A low rumble then filled the clearing, and in Fleur's head came the voice she had heard so many times before in her dreams...

_"Oh... Navi... Thou hast returned..."_

The voice let out a heavy sigh, and continued.

"_Fleur... Welcome... Listen carefully to what I, the Deku Tree, am about to tell thee... Thy slumber these past moons must have been restless, and full of nightmares... As the servants of evil gain strength, a vile climate pervades the land and causes nightmares to those sensitive to it... Verily, thou hast felt it..."_

_"Fleur... The time has come to test your courage... I have been cursed. I need you to break the curse with your wisdom and courage. Dost thou have courage enough to undertake this task?"_

Through all this, Navi had flown back to take her place in the air above Fleur's left shoulder. As the Deku Tree posed its tremendous question, Fleur warily looked up to the small fairy, who answered her silently with a couple of bounces to and fro in the air. Navi's words echoed in her head: _... what must be done must be done..._ Fleur knew that what she was about to get involved in was the sum of all her nightmares and recent discomfort together. She had stumbled upon the very thing that had been plaguing her, and although she did not yet know exactly what the threat was, she knew that she must do whatever it took to put it to an end.

Holding the Kokiri sword high in the air, Fleur replied "Great Deku Tree... I will do whatever is in my power to help break your curse."

With the power of a small earthquake, a part of the Deku Tree opened wide, like a mouth, creating a path for Fleur to get inside.

_"Then enter, brave Fleur, and thou too, Navi..."_

Making only a small noise in her throat as an affirmation, Fleur made her way down through the blue plants, careful not to get too close to anything suspicious. She reached the opening of the Tree, and with another quick glance at her fairy, Fleur plunged inside.

The interior of the tree was muggy, and the air felt thick to Fleur's lungs. The space inside the trunk was so vast, Fleur couldn't make out a ceiling no matter how hard she squinted upwards. There was a hole in the middle of the floor that seemed to lead farther down under the ground, and Fleur tried to make out what might lie down there, but it was near impossible to see, as a giant layer of spider's silk had effectively sealed off the hole from the level she was on. There were more of the blue plant monsters around, which indicated to Fleur that all the strange creatures she had seen outside must be part of the curse the Deku Tree suffered from. She hurriedly made a lap around the room to get rid of them, then found some vines she could climb up to make it to the next level of the Tree.

Stepping up onto the pathway on the second level, Fleur saw that each path here and above seemed only to be a narrow walkway that circled the perimeter of the tree. She began to make her way around the boardwalk, noticing that above her there were strange looking spiders higher up on the wall. The spiders looked to be about half the size of Fleur herself, and seeing she had nothing but her sword to fight them with, she continued on, unnoticed by the creatures. The boardwalk ended at a doorway, and Fleur wasted no time in going inside.

Here she found herself in a small, circular room, with a weird-looking shrub in the center. She turned around to inspect the walls, and was looking up at the room's ceiling when she was smacked in the stomach with what felt like a fist, and she found herself on the ground with a strange nut at her feet. Bewildered, she looked around for the source of the nut, but found none. With the shrub in the room the only thing to go by, Fleur carefully approached it. The shrub shot up out of the ground to reveal another plant-like monster. This one had a chute type of thing for a nose, and it aimed directly at Fleur to shoot yet another nut from its' head. Quickly leaping out of the way, Fleur went to rush at the thing with her sword, only to have it quickly duck away and back into the floor. She backed up again, not taking her eyes off of the creature.

"I know these" Navi whispered, "they're called Deku Scrubs. They're usually very friendly and helpful, but it seems to me like they've been affected by the same curse the Great Deku Tree has."

It wasn't long before the Scrub popped up again and took another shot at the young blonde, which she again dodged. Another rush forward only again resulted in the disappearance of the critter. Backing up, she waited for another nut to be shot, and kept her sword poised in the air. Sure enough, the Scrub appeared and with a distinct 'pop', another nut was hurtled out of its snout. Fleur was ready this time, and using her sword like a bat, hit the nut back towards the Deku Scrub. The nut flew up at an awkward angle, bounced off the wall and rolled onto the floor at the other side of the room. She had missed, but using the tactic gave her another idea. She took her shield from her left forearm and put it in her right hand, trying to create the perfect angle between herself and the Scrub. The next time a nut came flying her way, she held her position firm, and sent the nut flying straight back towards the enemy. Her aim was true this time, and the nut smacked its' owner in the head, effectively knocking it unconscious.

With the threat of the Scrub now diminished, Fleur could move across the room where a chest was located in a small alcove. She opened it to find a slingshot, along with some small, hard seeds that could be used as ammo. Navi brightened and began bouncing up and down.

"Fleur! Fleur! That's the Fairy Slingshot! It's not any old slingshot, either. Like your sword and shield, only myths and legends of this weapon has existed for the last age...it has been said that the aim and strength of the slingshot depends on the quality of the user's heart. It isn't known who originally owned or created this weapon, but it is as old as the Deku Tree himself."

With the comment about the user's heart in mind, Fleur carefully lifted the weapon from the chest. "I guess we'll see if I can hit anything or not." And with that, Fleur headed out the door, and back along the boardwalk, knowing exactly what to try her new weapon on. Coming back to the place where the vines extended even further upward to a third level in the Deku Tree, Fleur spotted the creepy spiders she had slipped around earlier.

"Better than nothing." Fleur said as she brought the slingshot up, and with a couple of the seeds in hand, took careful aim at the closest spider. Letting the seed go, it shot up towards the vines, ricocheting off the inside wall of the Tree and falling to the floor below her.

"Hmm...I guess it takes some getting used to." Fleur aimed again. This time, with the shot of a seed, the spider quickly came falling to the floor, which forced Fleur to sidestep to avoid being hit. With a smile, she looked to Navi and said "Works well enough for me!" A couple missed shots and even more true ones later, several spiders lay scattered on the boardwalk, leaving the vines clear to climb up. Fleur hoisted herself up among the vines, her fairy never too far behind her. Using strength she never thought possible, she scaled her way up the wall, and pulled herself up onto yet another boardwalk that was much higher up from the floor she started on. Peering out over the edge of the boardwalk, Fleur felt her stomach plummet and letting out a low "Whoa..." quickly moved to keep her back up against the wall. Fleur made her way around the perimeter of the tree again, but this time found no door or entrance of any sort to move her further along her journey.

"I don't get it... there's nowhere else to go, what happens now?" Fleur looked at her fairy for answers.

"Um, hang on a second..." Navi shot off down to the original entrance again and spiraled her way back up to Fleur. "I think I've figured it out... but I don't think you'll be happy about it."

Looking slightly paler, Fleur gestured for the fairy to continue.

"It seems on the other side of the room from where you climbed up, there's a log that juts out underneath the boardwalk... see it?" Fleur looked across the room, and sure enough, a few feet below the boardwalk, there was a log that extended outward and farther towards the center of the tree. "Mhm." Fleur replied.

"Well, I think you have to get down on it" came the answer Fleur had been dreading to hear.

Fleur carefully made her way to the other side of the boardwalk, and then, getting on all fours, crawled out to the edge and saw the log just below her.

"Okay, this just got scary."

"You can do it, Fleur, just lower yourself down slowly."

"Easy for you to say, you can fly."

Without waiting for a reply, however, Fleur backed herself out over the ledge of the boardwalk until she was merely dangling from the edge by her arms. Glancing down to double check her landing, she let go, allowing herself to fall, where she landed with shaky footing on the log. Navi pushed into Fleur's back to ensure she got her balance under control, and in only a moment, Fleur was standing tall and triumphant.

"Alright! What next? I don't see any other logs..." Fleur stepped out to the edge of the log to survey where her next step would take her. She didn't see any more logs like the one she was standing on, nothing to hop down or over to, and come to think of it, nothing even to swing off of. Looking above and before her, Fleur couldn't make any sense of where she had to head next... until she looked down.

Way down below, Fleur could see the web that spanned the giant hole she had discovered upon entering the Tree. As if that wasn't enough to kill her high spirits, she noticed that the log positioned her in the perfect spot to jump down onto the middle of the web. Looking at Navi, the fairy quickly flew out of arm's reach, as though afraid Fleur might take a swat at her.

"Navi... really?"

"I'm afraid so."

"A fall this high could kill me!"

"Yes, it could," this earned a stern glare from the young woman, "but I don't think you will die. Come on, you're supposed to trust your fairy, remember?"

"Yes, but most fairies don't suggest ludicrous acts of physical impossibility!"

"The web should help to break your fall", Navi answered simply.

"Oh, that really makes me feel better about the whole thing."

"Don't be such a baby."

With that, Fleur again inspected the web below, and steeled herself for the jump she knew she had to make. Taking several deep breaths, Fleur let out a last remark of "here goes nothing!" and leapt from the log. Fleur felt herself suspended in the air for only a second before she began her inevitable plummet towards the floor. The web sped towards her at an alarming rate, and as she raced towards the silk she closed her eyes before she hit. She instantly felt the sticky substance hit her body, and the web stretched way down into the hole, Fleur with it, until it finally snapped, and Fleur continued falling. The web remained at the top of the hole, now with a sizable hole through it.

With a loud splash, Fleur found herself completely submerged, and quickly swam towards the surface of the water. Upon surfacing, Fleur found Navi hovering over some ground several feet away. Fleur swam over to her fairy, and pulled herself out of the chilly water.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Aside from now being cold and wet, no I must say that was better than expected." Navi responded by making tight circles around Fleur, and the young blonde felt a new energy in her, which was warm and delightful. The fairy finished and took her usual spot above Fleur's shoulder and explained:

"It won't dry your clothes, but it won't make you feel so chilled."

"Navi, I could kiss you!"

With a small, tinkling laugh, Navi replied "Well thanks, but no thanks."

Looking around, Fleur saw other pieces of land across the water, but she knew they would be too high for her to reach from the water. Examining her immediate surroundings, however, Fleur saw that more spiders silk blocked the entrance to a nearby tunnel. The area down here was lit with torches, some on the land with Fleur, others on the distant platforms, and they reflected off of the water and the bare walls to cast a dim glow to the room. Fleur walked over to Navi, who by now was inspecting the thick web that blocked their way.

"I think a little fire should do the trick." At Navi's prompting, Fleur walked over to only torch available to her. It was made of stone, and was rooted deeply into the ground, and no matter how hard she tried to shove, the torch was unyielding and unmovable. Disappointed, but not ready to give up, Fleur walked over to a rough part of the wall and tore a strip that was hanging off of the Deku Tree itself. Setting one end on fire, Fleur rushed over to Navi with her new portable torch, and set the web to flames.

Now that the way ahead was clear, Fleur headed forward, into the tunnel. The tunnel was fairly narrow, and banked down in a spiral motion, clearly leading even further down into the ground. Fleur followed the path until she came to a door. Taking a deep breath in anticipation of what lay on the other side, she reached forward and turned the knob. Three Deku Scrubs awaited her, and upon Fleur's entrance to the room, they immediately began firing nut after nut at her. Fleur swiftly brought her shield to a defensive position and crouched low. Inch by inch, Fleur moved herself forward, knowing exactly how to handle these beasts. Starting in the middle, she kept deflecting the nuts back towards the Scrubs as she carefully took aim for the center creature.

Fleur's aim was true as the center Scrub was hurled backwards. The blonde then turned to the one on the right. Using the same methods, she took out that scrub and then finally the one on the left. At this point, seeing the last one defeated, the center Scrub jumped up and began running about the room. Fleur gave chase, dodging this way and that, trying to corner the creature. Pulling out her slingshot, Fleur fired a couple seeds in the direction of her fleeing opponent, and one seed smacked the legs out from under the Scrub. Rushing over and holding the point of her sword in its face, the creature let out a shrill squeal.

"Please! Please!" it said in a squeaky voice, "Spare us! The way to the master of this chamber is ahead, but there is a treasure of ours that you will need in order to defeat her. It lies at the top of that ladder." And with that, the Scrub glanced across the room. Fleur followed its gaze to a wooden ladder that was in an alcove slightly left of where she had entered the room, explaining why she had not seen it before now. Fleur stood and walked over to the ladder, leaving the Deku Scrubs to gather themselves and scurry from sight.

Looking upwards, Fleur saw that the ladder would carry her quite a ways back up the tree, and so began her ascent. One step after another, she pulled herself up the ladder bit by bit. As she reached the top, she could feel the burn in her arms and legs, but pulled herself up and out of the passage, only to look around to see she was in the room where, earlier, she had landed in water after her daring jump. She now was perched upon the previously inaccessible higher platforms, and this new ground was littered with the pesky blue headed plants.

"More of these?"

With a sigh, Fleur unsheathed her sword and held her shield at the ready. Moving at a steady pace, Fleur danced her way around the plants, slashing them apart, only receiving minor blows when she encountered groups. This time, when the creatures died, they vanished, leaving only a tawny brown nut where their bodies once lay.

"These plants must have retained some of the Old Magic" Navi pointed out, "These are Deku Nuts that are left behind, and they don't look to be cursed."

Assuming that this was the treasure the defeated Scrub had told her about, Fleur took as many Deku Nuts as she could stuff into the pockets of her tunic, and climbed back down the wooden ladder. Looking around the room, she saw the door forward to what looked to be her final challenge. Whatever resided in that room was the reason behind the Deku Tree's sickness, and Fleur also assumed that it was responsible for the nagging feeling that had been haunting her of late. Fleur approached the door with caution and reached out to push it open. At her touch, the door opened vertically instead, sliding upwards until it had disappeared entirely.

A vast chamber lay before Fleur as she struggled to quickly take it all in. The room was circular in nature, with an inner ring of pillars. Although everything she had come into contact with before now was made of wood, this room was built with stone, and had a high ceiling. Nature still permeated the space, as the walls and pillars were all strewn with old vines and various mosses. Gingerly taking a step inside, the door gave her a start as it slid down back into place, leaving Fleur trapped inside the room, for better or worse.

Scanning her immediate surroundings, Fleur could see that no obvious enemies lay on the floor of the room, and so she began moving further towards the ring of pillars. Upon reaching the pillars, still nothing had happened, so with a heavy breath to steel herself she walked to the center of the room, eyes peering between the pillars to spot enemies. With nothing still to be found, Fleur then turned her gaze up towards to ceiling to inspect it more closely. Amidst the dark, shadowed ceiling, a glimpse of green caught her attention. Fleur looked harder at it, when suddenly a red pupil appeared in the green, and a giant spider-like monster dropped from above, landing only feet in front of the blonde.

"Fleur!" Navi said, as the monster reared back and roared, "this is the Queen Gohma. She's usually just the ruler of the spiders in the forest... but I've never seen her looking like this before. She must be affected by the same curse as the Deku Tree! Those legs are pretty long, I wouldn't attempt straightforward close-combat if I were you."

"Got it." Fleur nodded with her reply, and strafed backwards out of the beast's reach. Whipping out her Slingshot, she quickly fired a few seeds in Gohma'a direction. Seeds simply bouncing off the spider's hard exterior, Fleur figured that here, her Slingshot would be of no use.

Queen Gohma then turned and scurried back up a pillar, and stopped once she reached the ceiling. Watching her enemy closely, Fleur waited for the spider to make her move. Seconds later, three eggs dropped from Gohma and hit the floor. The eggs immediately hatched to give birth to three smaller creatures made in the Queen's image. The creatures headed straight at Fleur, so she drew her sword and quickly did away with them. Fleur's movements had moved her into the middle of the pillars, and before she could react, Queen Gohma dropped down again, this time only inches away from Fleur.

Reacting instinctively, Fleur swung her sword at the beast, who retaliated with a long, thick leg, sending Fleur flying backwards into a pillar. The wind had been knocked out of the young woman, and in seeing her enemy continue in its advance, Fleur quickly stood and held her sword and shield in a defensive position.

"Fleur!" Navi intervened, "remember what the Deku Scrubs said!"

"Right!" And with that, Fleur pulled a Deku Nut from her tunic and hurled it at the giant spider. A blinding flash filled the chamber, and when Fleur's eyes came back into focus she saw that Queen Gohma was sprawled on the floor, apparently stunned. Lunging forward, Fleur began hacking and slashing at her enemy, doing a little damage to its hard exoskeleton, but nothing critical. After a couple hard hits, Gohma rose, causing Fleur to back off. The Queen returned to the ceiling and again began to lay eggs. Seeing a pattern emerging, Fleur came forward to slay the small creatures and coax Gohma back down to ground level. Stunning the spider after it again dropped down, Fleur resumed her attack.

Navi was circling above the two combatants now, trying to spot anything that might give Fleur the upper hand. The small fairy flew tight circles around the spider, and noticed that the beast's protective shell covered its entire body, save for its single, glowing green eye.

"Go for the eye!" Navi called down to Fleur, and with a single sparing glance upwards to her fairy, Fleur changed her stance. Left foot forward, Fleur brought her weight back onto her right leg, and charging forward with all the strength she could muster, drove her blade into the monster's eye until the hilt brought up against the gooey substance. With a terrible, screeching cry of pain, Gohma pulled back and Fleur kept her grip on her sword as it slid out of the Queen's eye. The giant spider blundered her way about the space, and made a last attempt to climb a pillar, only to get halfway up and then fall unceremoniously to the floor.

Fleur was panting when she finally relaxed and stood up straight, and Navi landed on her shoulder.

"Couldn't have done it better myself!" exclaimed the fairy.

With a small chuckle Fleur replied, "I would like to see you try and wield this thing", as she twirled the Kokiri sword a final time and placed it back in its sheath. A blue glow then captured Fleur's attention, as an image on the center of the floor began to light up. The symbol was a series of three triangles, arranged so that they themselves made a larger triangle.

Navi answered Fleur's question before she could phrase it: "That is the symbol of the Triforce. It is the symbol associated with Hyrule's royal family. In all cases, it is a symbol you can trust." And with that, Fleur stepped onto the Triforce, allowing herself to be bathed in its blue light. A feeling of weightlessness erupted inside Fleur's chest, and her vision was taking over by a blinding white light.

The young blonde knew nothing until she felt her feet touch down on spongy ground. Her vision came back into focus and Fleur found that she and Navi had somehow been teleported back outside, and she was standing on a patch of moss in front of the Great Deku Tree.

The Great Deku Tree looked even worse, despite Fleur's efforts to break the curse. The Tree's bark had a significantly more grey tint to it, and with much more strain than before, the Great Deku Tree began to speak.

"_Well done, Fleur. Thou hast verily demonstrated thy courage... I knew that thou wouldst be able to carry out my wishes. Now, I have more to tell ye, wouldst thou listen..._"

Fleur nodded in affirmation. "_Listen carefully... a wicked man of the desert cast this dreadful curse upon me_."

Fleur was hit with a sudden image in her head; an image of a man riding a black stallion through flames. The man had a strange look about him, he must not be from anywhere near the Forest. Realizing that the Deku Tree must be giving her the vision, Fleur did her best to maintain what she saw while listening to the Deku Tree explain.

"_This evil man ceaselessly uses his vile, sorcerous powers in his search for the Sacred Realm that is connected to Hyrule, for it is in that Sacred Realm that one will find the divine relic, the Triforce, which contains the essence of the gods..._"

Fleur was hit with a different image this time, and she found herself under a rainy sky in what seemed to be a void of existence. Three beams of light were hurtling down from above: one red, one blue and one green.

"_Before time began, before spirits and life existed, three golden goddesses descended upon the chaos that was Hyrule: Din, the goddess of power; Nayru, the goddess of wisdom; and Farore, the goddess of courage. Din, with her strong flaming arms, she cultivated the land and created the red earth. Nayru poured her wisdom onto the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world. Farore, with her rich soul, produced all life forms that would uphold the law._"

Fleur was stricken with images of these beams of light, one at a time starting with the red one she assumed to be Din. Each goddess infused their magic into the land Fleur could now see beneath her, and before her eyes, she saw the ancient creation of the land of Hyrule. The Deku Tree continued,

"_The three great goddesses, their labors completed, departed for the heavens, and golden sacred triangles remained at the point where the goddesses left the world. Since then, the golden triangles have become the basis for our world's providence. And, the resting place of the triangles has become the Sacred Realm._"

Fleur watched in amazement as she saw the goddesses ascend, flying past in blurs of color until they converged at a single point, and from there, shot straight upwards until they disappeared. In the place of where they had met, a golden Triforce remained, shining and brilliant and full of radiant power.

The images then stopped, and Fleur was once again looking at the Great Deku Tree.

"_Thou must never allow the desert man in black armor to lay his hands on the sacred Triforce. Thou must never suffer that man, with his evil heart, to enter the Sacred Realm of legend. That evil man who case the death curse upon me and sapped my power... because of that curse my end is nigh. Though your valiant efforts to break the curse were successful, I was doomed before you started._"

"_Yes, I will pass away soon... but do not grieve for me. I have been able to tell you of these important matters... this is Hyrule's final hope. Fleur, go now to Hyrule Castle. There, thou __will surely meet the Princess of Destiny. Take this stone with you; the stone that man wanted so much he cast the curse on me..._"

A flash of green burst above Fleur's head, and where the flash originated, a hand-sized stone hovered in the air. It was an emerald, with gold wrought around it. The color of the gem was vibrant and pure, and it radiated something akin to warmth. Fleur couldn't describe the feeling, but it was just as powerful and wholesome as the emerald was. The stone was perhaps the most beautiful thing Fleur had ever seen, and for the second time that day, she was rendered speechless.

Navi floated down and whispered into Fleur's ear with a voice full of awe: "It's the Kokiri's Emerald! This is the Spiritual Stone of the Forest. The Great Deku Tree is entrusting it to you... this is a great honor, Fleur."

Still at a loss for words, Fleur looked to the Great Deku Tree as the Kokiri's Emerald floated down and into her waiting hands. It was light, and at physical contact, Fleur felt that ancient stirring inside her again. It made Fleur wonder whether it was the external magic that created that feeling, or if perhaps she had Old Magic somewhere deep within her. The Tree slowly stirred to speak again.

"_The future depends on thee, Fleur... thou art courageous. Navi the fairy... help Fleur to carry out my will... I entreat ye... Navi..._"

"_Good...bye..._"

And with a final slow, rasping breath, the remaining color left the bark of the Great Deku Tree, and all the leaves in the canopy faded to brown as life left the Great Father of the Forest.

Navi was the first to speak afterwards, and when she did it was with a strained voice, raised a little higher than usual.

"Let's go to Hyrule Castle, Fleur!"

Not saying a word, Fleur gave one last look to the clearing, and turned to head back to the village. After a few steps, she noticed Navi was not with her, and she looked behind her to see the fairy had not left her spot, and remained poised towards the Great Deku Tree. Fleur walked back to her.

"Navi... I'm sorry. I mean, today was my first time ever meeting him, but even I still hurt because of this loss. To us Kokiri, we knew that he was our ancient protector, who maintained the balance of life here in the forest. He was our father, the only semblance of a parent that we've ever had. I can't imagine how this must feel for you, I know he really meant a lot to you..."

Navi turned slowly in the air to face Fleur. "Thank you, Fleur, I appreciate that. Instead of looking at the loss, we just have to have faith in how he gave his life for a reason: to protect this land from evil. Now it has fallen to us to see that Hyrule is kept safe." The fairy ended with a resolute tone, and began floating towards the path back to the village.

Fleur followed in silence, still attempting to understand everything that had happened that day. The gravity of the situation had not yet hit Fleur, though it soon would.

A/N: There's another one, folks. I know some of you have been frustrated with my lack of updating, but when I go to school there are inevitable months-long gaps in my activity on this site. I'm sorry that there isn't really a way around it, my schedule at school is way too hectic for me to do much in the way of hobbies, but hopefully you all find that maybe it was worth the wait? :) I plan to give you guys another chapter before the holidays are over. Reviews are always appreciated VERY much. Thanks for sticking with me!


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey everybody, here's another chapter! Turns out I have a bit of time off before the summer, so hopefully I can write some more! As always, I own neither the plot nor characters, although I have made minor changes so the plot varies slightly from Ocarina of Time. Please read and review, but above all, enjoy!

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><p>Upon returning back to the Forest, Fleur and Navi found themselves confronted with a very upset Mido who immediately strutted over to Fleur and pushed her by the shoulders.<p>

"Hey! Fleur, what do you do? The Great Deku Tree... did he... die?"

Fleur nodded her head in silent confirmation, causing Milo to explode:

"How could you do a thing like that?! It's all your fault! You don't even belong here, anyway! You're not one of us, and you never will be!"

In a mixed response of fury and anguish, Mido stalked off, his post at the meadow's entrance now unnecessary. The other Kokiri failed to produce better reactions; Fleur was met with a mixture of suspicion and grief. Those who knew her well enough were mourning the loss of the Forest's guardian, but those who she didn't know as well narrowed their eyes as she passed, questioning her actions.

In a mild state of bewilderment, Fleur headed back to her treehouse and packed a bag. While she searched her house for a change of clothes and some food, Fleur couldn't help but feel a little hurt that some of her fellow Forest-mates thought she was behind the Great Deku Tree's passing. Fleur couldn't even imagine doing something like that. However, she reasoned, they would all know the truth soon enough, as she was leaving the Forest to avenge their Father's death and put an end to the man who cursed him.

"Fleur, the Great Deku Tree told us to go to Hyrule Castle to see the Princess of Destiny... I wonder what she has to do with all of this. That desert man... whoever he is, he must be powerful. To have the strength to curse the Great Deku Tree so gravely... we cannot allow him to grow stronger. For him to obtain the Triforce would be the end of us all... we should not lose any time. We should get going!"

Broken from her reverie by Navi's heavy words of truth, Fleur looked at her fairy.

"You're right... Navi, he mentioned a Princess of Destiny... did the Great Deku Tree mean the Princess of Hyrule?" Fleur asked, only ever having heard of one princess in the land.

Navi hummed a 'mhm' before continuing, "the one and only, Princess Hermione of Hyrule. She is known for her maturity and wisdom- traits she inherited from her mother, who died when the princess was young. Her father is a very kind man. Very generous, and always looking to help the people of the kingdom. Hermione is known throughout the kingdom for her wit and beauty, but I know her for something quite different."

Puzzled, Fleur inquired further. "Something different? What do you mean?"

"As you know, this Forest and the children here are fueled by Old Magic. Kokiri Forest is the only place in Hyrule where the Old Magic can be felt so strongly. Other places in the land have let the magic fade, reducing it to a shadow of the life it once held. Although whether or not the Old Magic runs strong in all the regions of Hyrule, Kokiri Forest is notable for the simple fact that is it not only the land, but the children themselves who are imbued with Old Magic. Kokiri is the only place where the people can feel the flow of the ancients so easily... and with time, and much training, the children may learn the ability to harness the power of the magic here."

"So what does that have to do with the Princess? She's not a Forest child, is she?"

"Heavens, no. Princess Hermione, if I remember correctly, should be about your age now, perhaps a year younger, but no more than that. But have patience, and let me explain. The children, although capable of using the Old Magic, usually choose not to travel that path. Even if they do, they must be given the approval of the Great Deku Tree, and it is the Tree himself who trains them. It is a great power, and must be handled with a matching amount of responsibility. Princess Hermione is one of the only people not of Kokiri descent with the gift of being able to harness the energies of the Old Magic. Since the beginning of our world, there have only been a select few with this blessing upon them. In spite of that, though, those with this affinity can become dangerous if they do not have the proper heart for the magic... which is what I fear lies behind the desert man the Great Deku Tree spoke of. I fear he obtained his craft using impure means, and if it is the Old Magic he indeed uses, than we have much to fear."

"I'm beginning to understand, now. The other children of the Forest had never told me this much..." Fleur responded.

"I presume that they did not tell you so much because you are not a Forest child. The Princess, discovering her ability, became extremely studious, and even spent some time in the Forest with the Great Deku Tree when she was young. From what I understand, she still has much to learn, but she is certainly the most progressed in the kingdom that we know of. It is because she understands Old Magic that the Deku Tree sends us to her. Like you, I am sure she is aware of the evil growing in our realm, and she has also perhaps sensed that the Deku Tree is no more. Let us tarry here no longer, and make our way to Hyrule Castle."

Fleur consented, and adjusting her gear, climbed down from her treehouse. Avoiding the awkward glances and sometimes enraged stares, Fleur set a brisk pace to the Forest's exit. Climbing into the hollow tree that made a tunnel out to Hyrule Field, Fleur turned to take one last look at her childhood home. From what she could tell, the chances were that she would not return here for quite some time. Fleur made her way through the tunnel, and was heading across a bridge towards a second tree tunnel when she was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Oh, you're leaving..."

Fleur stopped, and turned to see Saria standing a few feet away, one hand resting on the rope bridge, melancholy plainly written on her face.

"I knew... that you would leave the Forest someday, Fleur. I knew because you are different from me and my friends... but that's okay, because we'll be friends forever... won't we?"

Fleur strode towards her friend and embraced her. "Of course we will, Saria. I may not know where this journey will take me, but that will never change the fact that you've always been my best friend."

After some hesitation, Saria spoke again. "It's true isn't it? What I said before? Something is wrong here in the Forest, isn't there, that's why the Great Deku Tree asked for you?"

"I think for now, the Kokiri are no longer in danger's path. But that's why I must leave, because the rest of Hyrule isn't safe, and the other peoples of the land are unaware of the evil coming their way."

Pulling back out of the hug, Saria smiled and put her hand into the satchel at her side, and took out a small instrument.

"Fleur, I want you to have this Ocarina... please take good care of it."

Fleur gingerly took the instrument into her own hands. "Thank you, Saria."

"When you play my Ocarina, I hope you will think of me and come back to the Forest to visit."

"I'll come back as soon as I can. I won't ever forget about you."

"Good luck, Fleur. I'll miss you."

Fleur gave Saria one last hug, then stepped up into the second tree, following it out to the vast landscape of Hyrule Field. Following a trail from the Forest, Fleur continued to walk to where the trees began to thin out. In the distance, Fleur could see nothing but grass on the horizon. Excited to get a better view, Fleur began to jog forward.

"HOO! HOOT! Fleur, look up here!"

Fleur nearly dropped to the ground in panic. Looking wildly above her head, she soon spotted a rather large owl perched in a nearby tree. Confused, Fleur stayed put in order to catch her breath, and Navi settled on her shoulder. The owl continued,

"It appears that the time has finally come for you to start your adventure! You will encounter many hardships ahead... that is your fate. Don't feel discouraged, even during the toughest times! Go straight this way and you will see Hyrule Castle. There you shall meet the Princess of Destiny. Hoot hoo!"

Without another word, the owl took wing and flew off into the sunset.

"What in the world was that all about?" Fleur asked.

Navi pondered a moment before she gave her reply, "I've seen him a few times in the forest, he's talked with the Great Deku Tree before. At the very least he seems to be fully aware of the task we've been given. I don't think it'll cause any harm to take his advice."

Seeing how the sky was beginning to darken, Fleur looked to Navi.

"It's getting late... I hope the castle isn't too far away."

As night made its way over the land of Hyrule, Fleur trekked out to where the last few giant oaks stood tall. With a deep breath, she left the safety of the wood and crossed out into the exposed grasslands. A path through the grass lay before her, as the owl had indicated, but after only a minute or two of walking, an unsettling feeling crept over the young woman. As the last glimmer of dying sunlight vanished below the distant mountains, a wolf howled in the distance. Out of pure instinct, Fleur drew her sword, and then, right before her eyes, a bony hand punched up through the earth at her feet.

With a yelp, Fleur jumped away and readied her shield. In the second Fleur took to arm herself, the creature had fully emerged from below, revealing itself to be a skeleton, but of what, Fleur could not tell. The skeleton staggered towards her, and when it was only a couple of feet away, swung at Fleur with all its might. She dodged the attack and retaliated, decapitating the skeleton... but it kept coming. Caught by surprise, Fleur took a hit to the face from her opponent, sending her reeling backwards, blood trickling out from a fresh cut on her cheek. Putting her shield in a defensive position, Fleur rushed forward, and bashed her enemy, sending bones flying in all directions.

In spite of her efforts, as soon as the first skeleton's remains hit the ground, another beast, alike in nature, sprouted from the ground not fifty feet away.

"Navi, what do I do!"

"I don't know! I think I remember hearing a children's story about these creatures once in the Hylian Town. If I'm remembering correctly, they roam the fields at night and only disappear at dawn, in the sun's light."

"I have to wait until DAWN?!"

"It looks like our only option right now! We need to hide!"

Fleur fled back towards the trees, and swiftly found one she could clamber up. Luckily for her, the skeleton beasts knew nothing of climbing, and one by one, they gathered around the base of the tree Fleur had chosen. Stumbling, and bumping into one another, the skeletons merely stared upwards at the young woman, each one with blue eyes as bright and intense as Fleur's. She could do naught but return their haunting gaze. The creatures unnerved Fleur, ceaseless in their clumsy attempts to reach her, relentlessly staring with glowing eyes. Unable to sleep, Fleur remained perched in the tree throughout the night.

As the sky once again began to grow light, she stirred from her rigid state. Careful not to lose her footing, Fleur stood and stretched, always keeping a tight grip on the tree. Hoping Navi was right, and her ordeal would soon come to an end, Fleur anxiously waited the sun. In the east, as the first rays of the new day emerged from the horizon, a golden yellow glow started to spread over Hyrule. As the light touched the trees in which Fleur had hidden herself, all the skeletons still clawing at the base of the tree disintegrated into dust. Filled with relief, Fleur wearily navigated her way back down the tree, Navi always hovering close by.

"Navi," Fleur started in a deadpan, "remind me to never get caught out in the fields at night ever again."

"Agreed!" Navi chirped, "One night of that was quite enough for me, thank you!"

Tired from the night's torment, Fleur took a deep breath of fresh morning air. "Well, we've already lost a night because of those _things_, we shouldn't waste a second in finding the castle now."

Fleur set a hurried pace down the path. After about an hour of walking, the path began to slope upwards, and over a hill. With the intention of getting a better view of the land, Fleur continued on, never slowing. She hadn't even reached the top when a distant spire suddenly appeared above the hill. Followed by a tower, the far-off outline of Hyrule Castle could gradually be discerned. Jogging now, Fleur moved up to get the full view: the castle was partially concealed by the high stone walls which encompassed the castle grounds as well as the town. An enormous wooden drawbridge could be seen among the rock. To her left, Fleur could see some kind of estate in the distance, surrounded by walls of its own. At her right was a river, and across the river she could make out a giant set of stone steps, leading up into the mountains. Mountains seemed to surround Fleur, no matter where she looked. Even in the distance, mountains bordered the land of Hyrule, and past the stone steps, Fleur saw the tallest of them all: a giant volcano, crowned with a ring of smoke. Fleur couldn't help but imagine what lay beyond; what people and places resided in the nooks of those mountains. From out here, the entrance to Kokiri Forest was but a nook itself, partially concealed by the large number of trees.

The walls grew to be higher than Fleur had ever seen as she approached the drawbridge. Walking across the heavy boards with anticipation, the young woman could see guards in armor patrolling the gate and walls, and could hear the distant bustle and rumbling of a crowd. Strolling down the main road, Fleur gained ground on the noise, and emerged into a wide, open market. The stone-paved square was filled with swarms of people. Stores and stalls were everywhere in sight, all centered around a large, magnificent fountain. Fleur was amazed. She had never really been in contact with adults before, or anyone who wasn't part of the Kokiri. Seeing these people was an entirely new experience. They looked like she did, they weren't all 4 feet tall, but Fleur was most certainly the only one in the works of them with a fairy at her shoulder. She took a few moments to soak in the new reality. Soon, she began to take in the sights around her, seeing the different wares the stores advertised, and examining different faces in the crowd. She noticed a resplendent cathedral that occupied a space outside of the market, and before the words to ask could leave Fleur's mouth, Navi spoke.

"That is the Temple of Time. It holds a shrine intended for the Spiritual Stones. It is a very ancient place, filled with the echoes of ages gone by."

Making a mental note to pay the Temple of Time a visit, Fleur saw that the castle still lay some distance away, and moved farther into the throng of buyers, sellers, and general citizens. Most of the people here were quite older than Fleur, mostly people in their late 30's and 40's. Some elderly women strolled by not too far from where Fleur stood. A couple youthful faces could be spotted throughout the crowd, but one in particular caught Fleur's attention. A young girl with auburn hair stood at the other side of the fountain, looking exasperated. Fleur went to move closer, when...

"Hey, your clothes! They're... different... You're not from around here, are you?"

Glancing down to look at herself, Fleur suddenly became painfully aware of the fact that she was indeed, dressed quite differently than everyone surrounding her. Here, all the women wore dresses, and even though some men wore tunics, it was clear that Fleur's was styled much differently.

"Um, no, I'm not. I'm from the Kokiri Forest."

"Ohh... you're a fairy girl from the Forest! My name is Malon, my dad owns Lon Lon Ranch!"

"I'm Fleur. Nice to meet you. Where is Lon Lon Ranch? I've never been out of the Forest before, I'm afraid I've never heard of it."

"Just outside of town, can't miss it once you're off the drawbridge!"

Fleur realized that the estate she saw earlier must be the ranch Malon was talking about. The younger girl continued,

"Dad went to the castle to deliver some milk, and he hasn't come back yet..."

This being Fleur's first interaction outside of the forest, she stepped forward to offer an encouraging smile, determined to be helpful. "Oh? What does he look like? I'm heading that way, if I see him maybe I could let him know you're waiting for him."

The girl hesitated, sighed, and then moved to a nearby crate that Fleur hadn't realized was there. Opening the crate, she took out a fully-grown chicken, with a leash around its neck. Perplexed, Fleur only looked at Malon.

"If he's been up there this long... it's likely that he's fallen asleep. My dad... well, he likes to drink a little, and when he falls asleep, he's out cold for quite a while. Could be he's passed out somewhere on the castle grounds."

Fleur looked at the bird in Malon's arms. "And the chicken?"

"The chicken will wake him up! I've found that the crow of a rooster is a guaranteed way to wake up my dad!"

Fleur wondered what she had gotten herself into. However, despite her mild disdain, Malon looked so hopeful that Fleur couldn't help but agree to the girl's request.

With a hesitant smile Fleur thought to herself, 'even though she's no damsel in distress, I might as well take the chicken and go see what I can do.'

Soon after, Fleur could be seen carrying the chicken under one arm, through the market of people to where the main road picked up again, leading up to the castle grounds. A distant 'thanks again!' from Malon echoed up to Fleur's ears, making the young blonde smile. After a minute of trudging up a hill, Fleur could finally collect her thoughts once the roar of the market died down behind her. A shadow lay in one of the trees ahead, and upon closer inspection, Fleur recognized the shape as the same owl that spoke to her after leaving the Forest.

"The princess is inside the castle just ahead. Be careful not to get caught by the guards! Ho hoot!"

Guards? Fleur hadn't factored that into the equation. She hadn't thought about how her request might seem flimsy and/or utterly ridiculous to the Royal Guard. There was no way they would willingly grant her an audience with Princess Hermione without Fleur having to divulge everything she knew about her quest. Even then there was no guarantee that any of them would believe her.

'Well, there's no use in stopping now.' Fleur thought to herself, and grabbed the vines on the nearest wall and went about pulling herself up to the top of the wall. It was harder than usual to climb, seeing that the young woman also had a chicken to accommodate in her endeavours. Eventually, with some sweat and toil, Fleur emerged on a ledge above the main gate to the castle grounds. Praying that the chicken would keep quiet, Fleur started to make her way past the gate, keeping a sharp eye out for any guards.

Once she cleared the main gate, Fleur found a spot where she could climb back down off of the ledge. Halfway down, the chicken started to squirm and Fleur nearly lost her footing, but she managed to recover her balance, and silently cursed her feathery burden. Farther up the main path, Fleur could see a guard on either side of the roadway, and several more guarding the boundary of the grounds. Heading up the side of a hill nearby, she slipped into the cover of a tree and some bushes, evading the patrol. Staying low, the blonde sneaked her way across the grounds, getting progressively closer to the castle. Scrambling up a shorter set of vines, Fleur could now pick out and follow a path that led her to the exterior of the castle, yet inside the perimeter walls, allowing her to escape danger of being caught. A small moat surrounded what was the most beautiful structure Fleur had ever seen. Standing tall and strong, Hyrule Castle loomed before her. She felt strength and courage spark inside her when looking at this place, and Fleur also felt the history of Hyrule in the air, here, before the embodiment of Hyrule monarchy.

The main drawbridge was closed, so Fleur decided to make her way around the outside of the castle to find another way in. Upon turning a nearby corner, Fleur saw a rather large man snoring loudly, leaning up against a crate of milk.

"Well, well, look what we have here." Fleur placed the chicken down and put her hands on her hips.

"Tubby, balding and in blue coveralls. He fits the girl's description perfectly. This must be Malon's dad," added Navi.

Standing back, Fleur watched the chicken as it pecked at the ground near the man's feet. The bird continued to peck around at the ground, causing Fleur to glance at Navi after a few seconds of no results. Once she looked back, she saw that the chicken was now inspecting the man's face. The chicken, seeming to know what had to happen next, crowed loudly. Fleur moved to quickly cover her ears as the man at her foot was harshly startled awake. The man cried out and looked around himself in a frenzy.

"What in tarnation! Can't a person get a little shut-eye around here?"

Fleur raised an eyebrow. The man rubbed the sleep from his eyes and gawked as he took in the sight of Fleur, and Navi bobbing up and down above her.

"Oh... hello. And who might you be?"

"My name is Fleur. Are you the owner of Lon Lon Ranch?"

"Yep, I'm Talon. I came up here to deliver milk, but I sat down here to rest, and I guess I fell asleep..."

"Malon figured as much," Navi said with some sarcasm.

Talon's eyes widened in horror. "What?! Malon was looking for me? I'm gonna catch it from her now! I messed up bad, leaving Malon behind to wait for me! She's really gonna let me have it!"

And without another word, Talon raced off, faster than Fleur would have thought possible for his size. "I guess Malon is quite the girl, to have her father running off that quickly to apologize," Fleur commented. Navi giggled in response.

Looking around, Fleur spotted a water chute coming from the castle. "Oh, Navi, look! I bet that could get us in!"

"You're probably right! Let's try it."

The problem, however, is that getting to the chute required Fleur to jump the gap across the moat. An idea striking her, Fleur climbed up onto the crate the Talon had been leaning against, giving herself more height to attempt the leap with.

"You can do it," encouraged Navi, and Fleur responded with "If I can kill a giant, evil spider monster, I can jump a moat... right?" Giving the fairy a half-hearted smile, Fleur stepped back as far as she could, planted her foot on the front edge of the crate and launched herself into the air.

She nimbly landed on the platform with the chute, and dropped to all fours to crawl inside the passage.

Fleur emerged in a small pool of water, got to her feet, and stealthily started to creep forward. Peering around a wall, she saw several guards walking different patrol routes all along the path before her. However, it being a castle courtyard, there were many low, decorative walls as well as bushes, fountains, and various other things that Fleur deduced she could use to give herself some cover. Inching forward, Fleur silently ducked and dodged this way and that, always looking about to be sure she was never caught off her guard. She passed through several regions of the castle courtyard, slipping past the soldiers as if she was a skilled thief.

Fleur soon found herself facing an elaborate stone passageway into a beautiful garden. Flowers of all kinds filled the clearing, and lush green grass fanned across the ground. Part of the castle's moat flowed around the circumference of the room, with a stone bridge leading across and into the garden. A small landing lay at the back of the garden, carved entirely of white marble, with a stained-glass window looking out into another room. The Triforce was elegantly carved into the stone above the window.

Fleur failed to notice the majority of this detail, however, as a slender figure stood on the landing, her back to Fleur, looking out the magnificent window. In a white dress, her head adorned with a simple, yet ornate golden crown, with luscious, wavy brown locks flowing across her shoulders and down her back, the Princess of Destiny was finally within reach. Fleur, again, as was happening so often lately, was struck speechless, staring at the woman before her. Aside from having met Malon in the market, who had clearly been younger than herself, the Princess was the only other woman she had ever met. But, at the same time, she had never seen anything, or anyone, that enticed her like this figure did.

Fleur began to approach the princess, not sure if she should announce her presence or not. When Fleur managed to reach the white marble steps without Princess Hermione noticing her, she decided to speak up.

Fleur's voice was timid. "Excuse me, Princess Hermione?"

The Princess of Destiny turned around to face Fleur, and vivid blue orbs were met with eyes of a radiant, chocolate brown as Hermione's gaze found Fleur's. Fleur went to speak again, but her voice caught in her throat. This woman before her, this Princess, out of all the new sights Fleur's eyes had seen, was definitely the most astounding. Fleur's thoughts were frozen in their tracks, paralyzed by the radiating beauty of the Princess. Brown eyes widened at the sight of Fleur and the Princess let out a small gasp.

"Wh-Who?! Who are you? How did you get past the guards?"

Fleur regained her senses at being addressed directly and pulled herself together. With a bow, she began to explain her presence.

"I am very sorry if I startled you, Your Grace. My name is Fleur Delacour, I grew up in the Kokiri Forest, and have been sent by the Great Deku Tree to seek your counsel."

"Oh?" The Princess looked at Navi. "You even have a fairy." Hermione's gaze shifted back to Fleur, curiosity sparkling in her eyes. "If you're from the Kokiri Forest, then... then you wouldn't happen to have the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, would you?!"

Taken aback, Fleur looked at the Princess with a guarded expression. "... Yes, I do. But how did you... know?"

The Princess let out a delighted laugh, "Just as I thought!" Seeing Fleur's confused face, Hermione continued. "I had a dream... In the dream, dark storm clouds were billowing over the land of Hyrule... But suddenly, a ray of light shot out of the Forest, parted the clouds and lit up the ground... The light turned into a figure holding a green and shining stone, the Emerald of the Kokiri, followed by a fairy..." By the end of her story, Hermione's smile had faded into solemnity, and she was looking at the floor.

Looking up again, she found Fleur's eyes. "I know this is a prophecy that someone would come from the forest...Yes, I thought you might be the one... Your name somehow sounds... familiar."

"I grew up in the Forest, although I am not a Forest child. The Great Deku Tree took me in when I was young, and cared for all of us Kokiri until recently. He was cursed, and my fairy and I tried to help him... but it was too late. He died, and left us with the Stone and the request to find you."

Hermione crossed the landing and sat on the nearby marble bench. She gestured for Fleur to join her. Following the Princess' actions, Fleur took a seat next to the brown-haired beauty. It was Hermione who spoke first.

"I'm going to tell you the secret of the Sacred Realm that has been passed down by the Royal Family of Hyrule. You'll need to keep this entirely to yourself. The legend goes like this: The three goddesses hid the Triforce containing the power of the gods somewhere in Hyrule. The power to grant the wish of the one who holds the Triforce in his hands. If someone with a righteous heart makes a wish, it will lead Hyrule to a golden age of prosperity...If someone with an evil mind has his wish granted, the world will be consumed by evil...That is what has been told... So, the ancient Sages built the Temple of Time to protect the Triforce from evil ones."

Fleur looked at her with a blank stare. "The Sacred Realm is right here in this town?"

"The Temple of Time is the entrance through which you can enter the Sacred Realm from our world. But the entrance is sealed with a stone wall called the Door of Time. And, in order to open the door, it is said that you need to collect three Spiritual Stones. And another thing you need..." Fleur nodded for Hermione to continue. "Another thing you need is the treasure that the Royal Family keeps along with this legend... The Ocarina of Time. Another thing I should add... I was spying through this window just now before you came in... The other element from my dream, the dark clouds... I believe they symbolize that man in there. Come, see him for yourself."

Fleur followed Hermione to the window. Through the window, a tall man with orange hair and black armor could be seen in the throne room. "Can you see the man with the evil eyes?" Hermione questioned. "That is Ganondorf, the leader of the Gerudos. They hail from the desert far to the west."

_The desert. The man in black armor from the desert._ Horror struck Fleur's heart. Hermione, unaware, carried on. "Though he swears allegiance to my father, I am sure he is not sincere. The dark clouds that covered Hyrule in my dream... They must symbolize that man! I told my father about my dream... However, he didn't believe it was a prophecy. But even so, I can sense that man's evil intentions. What Ganondorf is after must be nothing less than the Triforce of the Sacred Realm. He must have come to Hyrule Castle to obtain it. He wants to conquer Hyrule... no, the entire world!"

Hermione turned her back to Fleur and moved away from the window, eyes downcast. Fleur moved to Hermione's side. The Princess of Destiny again locked Fleur in an intense gaze. "Fleur Delacour, now, we are the only ones who can protect Hyrule. Please help me with this, I..a-am afraid that man is going to destroy Hyrule... He has such terrifying power..."

Fleur, not knowing if it was inappropriate to act friendly with royalty, threw caution to the wind and raised her hand to place it on Hermione's shoulder. Giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, Fleur smiled warmly at Hermione. "I will do whatever is in my power to help you in keeping Hyrule safe. I will stand with you to do whatever is necessary to protect the land. You can count on me, Your Grace."

Hermione smiled back at Fleur, then her face turned serious again. "It is fortunate that you have come... we must not let Ganondorf get the Triforce! I will protect the Ocarina of Time with all of my power! He shall not have it. You go find the other two Spiritual Stones. I am unable to up and leave the castle for that long without arousing suspicion. We have to get the Triforce before Ganondorf does, and defeat him."

"As you wish. After hearing what you have to say, I know now that Ganondorf was the man who cursed the Deku Tree, and I intend to get revenge. I will return as soon as I can." Fleur stepped back from Princess Hermione and bowed. The Princess looked at Fleur with kindness. "My attendant will guide you out of the castle. Thank you for coming, Fleur," Hermione's eyes seemed to grow warmer now, "It seems you are the answer to both my dreams and my nightmares."

Not sure how to take Hermione's last statement, Fleur opted for a slightly bolder move. Taking Hermione's hand in hers, she kissed it, and trailed her gaze up to Hermione, whose cheeks were now tinged pink with a slight blush. "Until we meet again, my Princess."

Fleur then took her leave, heading out the way she came, to meet a tall, dark-skinned woman with white hair. The woman extended her hand for Fleur to shake in greeting. "I am Impa of the Sheikahs. I am responsible for protecting Princess Hermione. Everything is exactly as the Princess foretold. You are a courageous woman, heading out on this adventure. My role in Hermione's dream was to teach a melody to the one from the forest. This is an ancient melody passed down by the Royal Family... I have played this song for Princess Hermione as a lullaby ever since she was a baby... There is mysterious power in these notes. Listen carefully..."

Impa proceeded to teach Fleur how to play the song on her Ocarina from Saria and after a few tries, Fleur mastered the tune. Fleur thought the song sounded incredibly relaxing and comforting. "It is the song of the Royal Family, but I call it Hermione's Lullaby." Fleur took one look back at Hermione, who shone a somewhat shy smile at her, before allowing Impa to lead her out of the castle.

Impa brought Fleur all the way down to the town's main drawbridge. They stepped outside of Hyrule Town and Impa pointed Fleur's gaze toward the volcano mountain. "Take a good look at that mountain. That is Death Mountain, home of the Gorons. They hold the Spiritual Stone of Fire. At the foot of Death Mountain you will find my village, Kakariko. That is where I was born and raised. You should talk to some of the villagers there before you go up Death Mountain." Impa looked at Fleur. "Remember... the song I just taught you has some mysterious power. Normally, only Royal Family Members are allowed to learn this song. The Princess will be waiting for you to return to the castle with the Stones. We're counting on you." Impa then took a quick couple of steps backward, pulled something out of her tunic and threw it to the ground. A bright flash blinded Fleur, and when she could see again, Impa was gone.

A silence settled between Fleur and her fairy companion. The weight of the situation was finally beginning to seep into Fleur. It wasn't that she hadn't trusted what the Deku Tree had told her, but Hermione's dream only confirmed everything she had heard so far. The hardest thing to accept, though, was that the whole journey and the fate of Hyrule now rested on her shoulders. Hermione would keep order in the court and keep an eye on Ganondorf while keeping the Ocarina of Time safe from his hands, but Fleur had to face people, places, and dangers she only ever had heard of, all in the name of saving the world. The task now seemed daunting, but Hermione's words echoed in Fleur's head, and the image of Hermione's face in her mind's eye allowed Fleur to gather the courage necessary to take the first step in walking towards Kakariko Village.

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><p>AN: Aaaaand, here it is. Coming next, the adventure for the Spiritual Stone of Fire! Reviews are highly appreciated, I long for constructive criticism. Thanks, folks!


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey all, sorry it's been so incredibly long since I've done anything with this fic, but here's another chapter! I've also gone back and edited/updated the previous chapters to add more dialogue and embellish upon Fleur and Saria's friendship. So those chapters might be worth re-reading. I've realized that so far, with this story, I had been power-typing these chapters while playing the game and not really doing much with the relationships within the story. Hopefully this and future chapters will come across as more of a rounded narrative and not just an instant replay of what Link goes through in Ocarina of Time. That all being said, I appreciate the supportive reviews I've gotten thus far! Thanks a bunch, readers!

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><p>Fleur soon found herself at the base of the stone steps she had spied on her initial journey from the Forest to Hyrule Castle. Without hesitation, she ascended, stair by stair, until the path cut into the rocks opened out into a quaint little village.<p>

The first thing that caught Fleur's eye was a magnificent windmill, acting as a centerpiece to the vision of the numerous wooden houses that made up Kakariko Village. The town was full of life; people were walking about, tending to their gardens, heading to local shops, a team of men were building a house close to where the windmill was seated, and a couple of chickens stalked about between the houses. Fleur approached the main gate, which was attended by a couple of guards equipped in the same manner as the ones at the Hyrule Castle Town gates. Before she could pass by, however, one of the guards stopped her.

"Hey, you're a new face around here. What brings you to Kakariko Village?"

Knowing that her plans with Princess Hermione were to remain secret, Fleur figured it was safe enough to divulge the following: "I recently met a woman called Impa at Hyrule Castle. She said she was from here and suggested I come visit, talk to the townspeople, get a feel for her hometown, that sort of thing."

The guard's face instantly lit up. "Well great! Impa is one of the Sheikah, the people who founded this place, but she's opened this village up to the common people as well. We have only a small population now, but someday this place will be as lively as Hyrule's Castle Town! Welcome, traveler, I hope you make yourself at home here in Kakariko!"

"Thank you very much" came Fleur's reply.

Encouraged by her warm welcome, Fleur wandered farther into the village. Not knowing exactly what to do, or where to begin, she approached the construction project she had spotted from the gates. There were several men working on the foundations of a house, carrying beams to put up, holding pieces in place while others hammered away. Fleur made her way over to the man who looked like he was in charge, as he was watching over the work taking place and directing people around the area. Taller than she was, this man was burly, bald, and sported a bushy white moustache.

"So," Fleur began shyly, "what's all this about?"

The man, slowly realizing he had been spoken to, turned his head and eyed Fleur from head to toe. "Who are you?"

"Sorry. The name's Fleur, I'm visiting the village and was just curious, is all."

The carpenter took a moment to size up Navi, and then with a knowing look, extended his calloused hand for Fleur to shake. "Nice to meet you, Fleur. I'm Jiro, the boss of the carpenters that Impa hired to improve this village and make it into a true city! All day long, we are working on many construction projects here, but it will still be a while before it's all completed. Do you know who Impa is?"

Fleur nodded as she watched the carpenters work.

"Well then, as I'm sure you know, she's a part of the Sheikah, who have always been responsible for both advising and protecting the Royal Family of Hyrule. In recent years, though, the land has been at peace, so the Sheikah don't need to be so secretive and secluded from the rest of Hyrule. We're building houses so that more people can move in and really bring this town to its full potential."

"Maybe I'll live here someday," Fleur wondered aloud.

Jiro smiled at that, and turned to fully face her. "And leave the Forest?"

Fleur looked at the older man with surprise. Jiro continued with a laugh, "I know about the Kokiri, and your fairy makes it evident enough. I didn't think fairy children could leave their Forest, though. How long are you staying?"

Fleur shrugged. "I'm not sure, to be honest. And I'm not technically a fairy child, I was just raised there."

"Ah, I see. Well, if you've got some free time, and you're looking to meet some other people here in the village, head around the corner here from this house. You'll come upon a young man by the name of Kayo, I know he could use a helping hand today."

"Sure, I'll go see if I can find him. Thanks Jiro, it was nice to make your acquaintance." Fleur then departed from the carpenter's work site, to further explore the village and see if she would happen across Kayo, whoever he was.

The young Kokiri turned the corner that Jiro had pointed out, and headed up a set of stairs that led to a higher level of the village, filled with more houses. She immediately noticed that the windmill was on this side of the town, and unable to ignore her curiosity, picked her way through the streets to investigate the massive structure.

Fleur found a long staircase at the base of the windmill, and quickly set about climbing them. Reaching the top, Fleur took a moment to look out over the rest of the town. She could see just about the everything from this height, and admired the way the sunlight glinted off of the rooftops of the many houses and also the way that the bustle of the village faded into a quiet din from her position by the windmill. Intrigued by the building itself, Fleur knocked on the nearby door. Strange music was playing from within, and after receiving no answer, she stealthily opened the door and peered inside. With no one in the immediate vicinity, the blonde stepped across the threshold and gaped upward in awe. The inner mechanics of the windmill were laid out for all to see, and she was taken aback by the intricacy of the whole operation. The strange music was much louder now that she was inside, and Fleur glanced around for the source, only to spot an even stranger man, standing by the opposite wall, turning a handle on a large music box that was strapped to his chest.

Fleur made her way over to the man, and as he spied her he loudly burst into laughter. "Go around! Go around and around and around! What fun! I'm so happy! I'm a music man who loves to go around and around! Go around and arounddd!" He stared at Fleur with a wildly ecstatic, maniacal grin plastered onto his face.

Disturbed, Fleur went straight for the door, slammed it behind her, and was very glad to be outside again. The music was now somewhat muted, still playing from within. Navi moved in a way that could only be described as a shudder, "Fleur, that guy gave me the creeps!"

"You're not the only one. I wonder if anyone knows that guy is even in there..." Determined to put the experience out of her head, Fleur returned to the base of the windmill, arbitrarily picking the path to her left to explore next.

As Fleur headed to the well that lay at the end of the pathway, a chicken barrelled out from an alley to her left, nearly causing her to trip over it. A loud squawk indicated that the chicken was just as startled as Fleur was, and as she spiralled her arms to regain her balance, a split second later a running figure crashed into her, and they both were thrown to the dirt.

Dazed, Fleur looked up in time to see the chicken flee down another alley. Glancing at her attacker, she was met with a young man about her age, with black hair and green eyes, slowing rising to dust himself off. Once he was standing Fleur could see that he was of average height, with a fairly scrawny build and an awkward stance.

"I am so, so sorry about that!" He offered Fleur a hand to help her up from where she sat on the ground, and once she was up, the stranger started pacing and speaking in a rushed, nervous voice, "My name's Kayo, I'm supposed to be in charge of taking care of my dad's chickens, but part of the fence fell down today and they've all escaped. That's what I was chasing when I bumped into you. And, well, now they're everywhere, all across the entire village, because they're so hard to catch. And when you DO catch one, they start flapping their wings and squirming and it's impossible to carry one long enough to get it back to the pen. Why do they even have wings anyway? It's not like they can fly! Sorry. I tend to ramble. I'm also sorry, again, for knocking you over just now!" Kayo finally took in the sight of Fleur, with Navi at her shoulder.

"Oh wow, what's that?" He asked.

"This is my fairy, Navi. My name is Fleur, we're both from the Kokiri Forest. I was talking to a man named Jiro a bit earlier, and he mentioned you, said you might need some help?"

The young man again looked from Fleur, to Navi, and back to Fleur again. "Really? Help would be fantastic. Are you sure?"

Fleur nodded. "Yeah, I'll help you out."

Kayo grinned, "Okay, well uh... let me show you where the pen is." Kayo then led the way back up the alley he had emerged from, and a minute later they came to what Fleur assumed must be his house, and then noticed the broken chicken pen in the side garden. Kayo looked to Fleur. "So, we've got 10 chickens in total, and I still need to fix the pen before I can expect to get them all in again. If you wouldn't mind, how about you round up some of the chickens, because I'm clearly terrible at it, and I'll fix the pen in the meantime."

Fleur nodded in affirmation. "Um, sure, where should I start looking?"

"Anywhere, really. It's hard to get lost in this town, everyone either lives up on this landing, down on the level where you would have entered the village, or up higher where the path to the volcano is. If you can't find your way back here, just ask anyone and give them my name, they'll tell you how to get back here!"

"Okay, I'll get started, then!" Fleur turned to start exploring the town for Kayo's chickens.

"Good luck!" Kayo called out as Fleur walked away.

As it turns out, Fleur didn't have a hard time finding the birds. It only took a bit of wandering to find the first couple, and after that, the villagers were more than happy to point her in the right direction, as it seemed the chickens had been making a nuisance of themselves since their escape from the pen. It helped her see more of the town, and see things up close and personal that she had only viewed from afar at the windmill. By the time she had brought 6 chickens back to Kayo, he was finishing up the repair work on the fence. He then joined her in seeking out the last 4, with Fleur helping him figure out the best way to carry the birds so that they didn't leap from his arms and run off again. As odd as the task was, Fleur found herself enjoying Kayo's company, feeling like she had definitely made her first real friend outside of the Forest.

Once the last chicken was safe and sound in the pen with the others, Fleur joined Kayo in sitting down to lean up against the fence and bask in the late afternoon's sunshine. A few minutes passed where the two simply sat in silence, enjoying their labour's completion. Then, Kayo spoke up.

"Would you like a drink? It's kind of hot out here."

"Sure, that'd be great," Fleur replied.

"Be right back!" Kayo hopped up and headed into his house. Fleur adjusted her position against the fence, and felt her hand brush up against the Fairy Slingshot, which was tucked into her belt. The weapon was a sharp reminder that she had a serious task at hand, and shouldn't linger much longer. Fleur really liked this village, having spent the day meeting friendly people and appreciating the beautiful sights the town had to offer. But the facts remained the same: Princess Hermione had given her a task to do, and had done more than just hint that the Stones needed to be found as soon as possible. Fleur knew she had to say goodbye to her new-found friend soon, and begin her journey up Death Mountain. She wasn't about to risk disappointing the Princess by not taking her quest seriously, and on top of that, failure could risk the safety of Hyrule and all its inhabitants.

A few minutes later, Kayo emerged from his house with two glasses of water and a plate balanced on his forearm. Fleur stood to help him, and as she took the glasses, saw the plate was filled with sandwiches.

"My dad told me to give you his thanks for helping me out today. And my mom made us these for supper."

They sat down, and Kayo set the plate between them as Fleur handed him one of the glasses. Fleur held up her own. "Here's to keeping chickens, and thanks to your mom for the sandwiches!"

"I'll drink to that." Kayo clinked his glass off of Fleur's and they both heartily dug in. Fleur soon began to notice Kayo looking at her more often as they ate. When she finally managed to catch him checking her out, she cocked an eyebrow. Her observer's face immediately flushed beet red. "S-sorry," he stammered out, "I just, I don't know, you're a lot different than any girl I've ever met before."

Fleur chuckled, "It's fine."

"It's not only the way you're dressed. There aren't very many girls who would agree to spend their day chasing after dirty, run-away chickens. Not to mention that none of the girls here are willing to spare me more than a passing glance."

"Why not?"

Kayo sighed. "I don't know, I'm not handsome enough for them, I'm not the strongest, I always tend to ramble when I get nervous, they don't think that much of me."

Fleur looked to the boy at her side. "Well, that's their loss, in my opinion."

Kayo beamed back at Fleur, "Thanks... are all the girls from Kokiri so great?"

Fleur laughed "I guess that's a matter of opinion!"

Silence settled back between the pair. Kayo again was the first to speak. "So what's next for you? Are you staying in Kakariko Village?"

Fleur swallowed her last bite before answering, "No, I'm heading up Death Mountain to see the Gorons."

Kayo smiled. "You really are one of a kind, Fleur."

"Thanks, you're not too bad yourself."

"Well, the Gorons only live part of the way up the mountain. It's not a very long climb, it'll likely only take you an hour or so to make it up there. You're going this evening, I take it?"

"Yeah, I'd like to get there as soon as I can."

"I'll walk you to the gate, then. Give me a minute to bring this stuff back inside."

While waiting for Kayo to return, Fleur grabbed her backpack from the fencepost she had hung it around earlier, and made sure all of her things were still intact. Pulling the straps up around her shoulders, she tightened the laces on her boots and got ready to begin the next leg of her journey.

Shortly thereafter, Fleur was standing at the entrance to the path up Death Mountain, saying goodbye to her new friend.

"Thanks for the meal, Kayo, and the company. It was nice to have met you."

"Same here. Try and come back to visit sometime, okay? I know I don't know you that well, but... I'll miss you."

"You can count on a visit, for sure. Take care, alright? Bye!" Fleur turned onto the path, leaving Kayo waving from the gate.

It wasn't long after when the grey tones of the rocks surrounding Kakariko began to take on a red hue, and the farther Fleur climbed up the path, the fewer plants there were, when soon enough there was only rock and rubble to be seen in every direction. Fleur was officially on her way to see the Gorons of Death Mountain, and could only wonder what was in store for her on this desolate volcano.

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><p>AN: There you go! I'm going to try and make the chapters shorter so I can update more often, and not like, once a year, haha. I'm happy to say that I have a fair amount of free time on my hands this summer, and lately have gotten back into a semi-creative mindset, so I'm optimistic that I'll get more work done on this story in the next couple of months. As always, please R&R! Thanks :)


	6. Chapter 5

Lucky for Fleur, a path had been worn away amongst the rocks leading up to the volcano. It was by no means clear of debris, and the young Kokiri had to be mindful of her step as she ascended the trail. Fleur looked up high in the sky, and saw the ring of smoke that surrounded the summit of Death Mountain. She looked to her fairy with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad we don't have to go all the way up there. It looks like that climb would take at least a day."

Navi bounced in response, "Me too. The Gorons live at the base of the volcano, and have a fair sized city. Like Kayo said, we should be there in about an hour, and hopefully they'll allow us to take advantage of their hospitality for the night."

With a nod of affirmation, Fleur continued up the winding path. After the duo had been trekking for about half an hour, they came to a sharp turn that concealed whatever lay beyond. It was here that Fleur caught the faint sound of rustling and a quick look around told her that there were still no plants or signs of life in the vicinity.

"What's that noise?" Fleur whispered.

"I don't know, I'll fly ahead to check it out," Navi offered.

Navi slowly advanced towards the bend, trying to stay high in the air so as to not attract any attention in case something was lurking on the other side. After a peek around the corner, the fairy zoomed back towards Fleur.

"Red Tektites."

"What?"

"Red Tektikes. Another type of spider, like the Skulltulas, only these ones hop around rather than just hang out in webs."

With a slight shudder, Fleur pulled her sword from its sheath and lashed her shield onto her arm. "How many of them?"

"I saw five. It doesn't seem like there's any way to avoid them. However, the beginning of the bend is somewhat narrow, so if you can get their attention and make them come to you, it'll likely prevent them from being able to attack all at once."

"Okay, thanks." Fleur paused to take a deep breath. "Here goes!"

Without wasting another moment, Fleur edged her way to the rocks that hid the Tektites from view. Peering around the corner, she sized up her enemy and observed the way they hopped. The beasts had rather flat bodies, with a single, bulging eye. Each Tektite was a blazing display of red colouring, accented with yellow legs. They would shuffle from leg to leg to turn in direction, and when satisfied, each leg would bend in preparation for a single leap that took them alarmingly high in the air. Confident she could use their movement to her advantage, Fleur stepped into sight, banging her sword against the front of her shield to create a clamour. The beasts immediately turned themselves to face Fleur, and began bouncing their way towards her.

As Navi predicted, the pass allowed for only one to come to Fleur at a time, and with that the young warrior smirked, knowing that she had already won. As each Tektite sprung up with its hairy, spindly legs and flung itself at her, Fleur took advantage of the defencelessness in being airborne and struck each one down from midair, killing them all with single blows.

After the skirmish, Fleur and her fairy continued on triumphantly, with Navi now travelling some distance in front of Fleur, to scout for other threats. The pair climbed up a particularly steep section of pathway, and ended up on a plateau. There were several rocks and boulders on this stretch of mountain, and among them, a larger rock that seemed somewhat out of place. The large rock was a strange mix of brown and grey that turned to more of a tan colour near the bottom, unlike the reddish hue that tinted everything else. Fleur stepped forward to inspect the oddity, when with a groan, the 'rock' sat up, revealing a pair of big, black, round eyes, two arms and a pair of legs. Fleur noticed a strange mark on the creature's arm, which at a glance reminded her of a pawprint of sorts.

The creature noticed Fleur turn to her fairy, and spoke up. "I am one of the Gorons, the stone-eating people who live on Death Mountain."

Fleur looked back to the Goron, and this time took note of how sunken his eyes seemed to be, and how he slouched over as if he barely had the energy to be up at all. "Hi, could you please point me in the right direction? I'm headed to your city to speak with your leader."

The Goron weakly scoffed, "Good luck, Big Brother won't see anyone these days. Our city is just up a little ways to your right, but I doubt you'll find whatever it is you came here for. With everyone so hungry, there aren't many that are willing to cooperate with each other, let alone strangers."

Intrigued, Fleur asked, "Hungry? Why is everyone hungry?"

With a heavy sigh, the Goron replied, "We're running out of food. We Gorons live on a diet of rocks. And yes, I know that we're surrounded by rocks up here, but the most nutritious ones that keep my people going strong are locked away in Dodongo's Cavern." He gestured to a massive boulder that sat a small distance behind him, blocking what Fleur could only assume was a tunnel. "Without the rocks in Dodongo's Cavern, what we scrounge up elsewhere keeps us alive, but it's made everyone weak and faint, and simply doesn't do the same job. We'd been eating from this cavern for as long as I can remember, and we don't even have the resources to send out a party to search for a new quarry."

"Wow, I'm really sorry to hear that..." Fleur began, "but I still at least need to try and see... Big Brother? Is that what you called him?"

"Yeah, but don't you call him that. He's King Darunia to outsiders."

"Okay. Well, thank you very much for the advice. I really wish there was something I could do to help you. At the very least, if King Darunia turns me away, I can tell other people about what's happening up here, and maybe someone can help."

The Goron heaved another heavy sigh. "Here's to hoping. Good luck." The creature then slumped back to the way Fleur had found him.

Fleur turned and left the Goron, walking steadily upwards along the path. She soon came to a fork in the trail, and looking to her left saw a small cliff face. At the bottom of the cliff stood a sign that read "Death Mountain – Dangerous Pathways Ahead". To her right, Fleur saw a long red flag attached to a tall pole, marking where the rough roadway continued on, and began the last leg of the journey to Goron City. Minutes later, the path widened out into a large clearing before an enormous entrance to a cave. In the middle of this clearing was a raised platform made entirely of stone, and at the centre lay a carving of the pawprint-like mark Fleur had seen on the Goron she'd just met.

"I guess this marks the entrance. This is it, right?"

"Sure is. Let's head inside before it gets too dark out here" Navi answered.

Heading past the platform, Fleur took in the sight of two grand doors fashioned from whole logs. The doorway was adorned with small flags, hung across a rope that spanned the opening. The log doors were opened, and so Fleur made her way inside the giant cave. Following a short tunnel, Fleur's eyes adjusted to the darkness, as the sun finally sank below the horizon outside. Fires had been lit inside and Goron City slowly revealed itself to Fleur the farther she walked. The home of the Gorons was indeed a giant cave, a circular expanse that extended far below ground level. Walkways lined the edges of the city with openings for staircases that led to the various levels of the structure. The centre of Goron City was like a big pit, with a huge statue standing in the middle of the bottom level. Hanging above the whole area was a small, flat platform, suspended by thick ropes over the statue below. A pedestal of some sort seemed to reside there, but Fleur couldn't get a good look.

Fleur made her way to the edge of the top walkway to look all the way to the bottom and was struck with a mild case of vertigo. She had never expected Goron City to be so big judging from the cave's entrance alone. What also caught the young woman's eye was that for a city, there was a serious lack of inhabitants. She had expected a bustling atmosphere like the one she had found at the Hyrule Market, or even Kakariko Village, but there were only a few Gorons in sight, all of which were slowly shuffling to and from their destinations.

A wrinkled, elderly Goron was sitting down on the edge of the walkway a short distance away from Fleur. She approached the creature tentatively.

"Excuse me, where might I find King Darunia?"

The Goron gave no verbal response, but instead pointed downwards, to the bottom of the city.

"Thank you."

Fleur then took note of the nearest stairway, and went down to the next level. Heading down one more flight, Fleur found herself about halfway down the cavern, and could more easily pick out some of the different structures around her. It seemed that all the stairways were marked with short poles, while other tunnels were marked with smaller versions of the flags that had topped the city's entrance. Peering down to the bottom, Fleur saw the statue: an enormous work of clay that depicted three Gorons standing in a trio, backs facing each other, making a triangular formation. On one wall lay an tunnel that had a tapestry covering the entrance, and at either side of the tapestry was a strange plant that emerged from the wall. At last, Fleur saw a large mat with the Triforce emblazoned upon it. The mat lay in front of the largest tunnel she had seen yet, and above its entrance was the same pawprint mark, the sigil of the Gorons. Noting to herself that King Darunia's chambers must reside within that last tunnel, Fleur took the last flights of stairs to reach the bottom of Goron City.

As she emerged out onto the lowest tier of the city, Fleur noticed the strange plants that she had seen from above. Stepping closer to inspect one, she saw that a solid, spherical object was attached to the wall, with a leafy bed surrounding the base of the sphere. Knowing that it may not be the wisest of ideas, Fleur reached out to touch the plant. The sphere was solid, cold and rock-like, not willing to budge or react at all to Fleur's presence. With a shrug, Fleur made her way over to the mat, and where she hoped to find the King of the Gorons. She was met with a wooden barrier that lay a few feet into the tunnel, so she stepped forward and knocked. After receiving nothing but silence, Fleur knocked again. As she was about to knock a third time, Navi interrupted her.

"Fleur, this mat with the Triforce on it... maybe we should somehow let the King know that we're affiliated with the Royal Family of Hyrule. Try playing that song that Impa showed you, I know messengers of the Crown used to play that whenever they needed to identify themselves."

"Couldn't hurt to give it a shot," said Fleur as she readied her Ocarina. Recalling the notes the Sheikah woman had taught her, Fleur played through the short melody that she only knew as 'Hermione's Lullaby'. As the last note rang out and echoed off of the stone walls surrounding her, the wooden panel slid up and vanished out of sight. Taking this as a cue to enter, Fleur walked into the tunnel with Navi close behind. The tunnel was dark, but Fleur could see a couple of torches burning in the distance, and so she headed towards them. At the end of the tunnel Fleur found herself in a big room, with flags spanning across the ceiling in several places. Torches bordered the room, and a very tall, hulking Goron stood at the far side, staring at an even taller carving of a Goron that was sculpted from the wall itself. Many engravings decorated the other walls, and ornate mats covered most of the floor. The room was sparsely furnished; a medium-sized table rested off to one side, flanked by a few chairs. A couple chests and trunks lay about, along with a magnificent weapon rack, which held a giant club and an enormous broadsword.

"Umm, hello?" Fleur let out with a timid breath. The big Goron turned to face her with a surprised expression on his face. This could be none other than King Darunia. He was tall and dignified in stature, with muscular arms and a strong chest. Long, white hair was slicked back on his head, and he also wore a medium length beard. He wore no crown, but had small white markings beneath each of his eyes, and his wrists were banded with thick, golden bracelets.

"Who are you? When I heard the song of the Royal Family, I expected their messenger had arrived, but... you're not him." Darunia had a booming voice that echoed throughout the chamber. "Has Darunia, the big boss of the Gorons, really lost so much status to be treated like this by his Sworn Brother, the King?"

Fleur quickly explained herself, "I'm sorry, Your Highness, it wasn't the King who sent me. My name is Fleur, and I was sent here by Princess Hermione, who believes wholeheartedly that Hyrule is in danger. I've been asked to come here to procure the Spiritual Stone of Fire, in order to avoid it falling into the hands of evil forces."

"HA! Now I'm really angry! You think you can just wander in here and take up my time with stupid games?!" The Goron's face had fallen into a nasty scowl, which Fleur reacted to by taking a couple of small steps backwards.

"I-I'm sorry, again, Your Highness... uh... King Goron, sir, but this isn't a joke. I'm as serious as serious gets. An evil man hailing from the desert has already cursed the Great Deku Tree of the Kokiri Forest in an attempt to take our Spiritual Stone. It didn't work, he didn't get the Stone, but... the Great Deku Tree has died nonetheless."

Upon hearing this news, Darunia's frown eased up. "I'm sorry to hear that, child. It must have been a great loss for your people." Sighing, the King continued, "I also apologize for my demeanor. Everyone in my city has become more than irritable as of late, due to the serious lack of food. I'm sure you can agree that even of best of people are grumpy on an empty stomach."

The Goron King gestured for Fleur to come stand before him. "As it turns out, I know the desert man of whom you speak. I believe he is the source of our trouble here. The man, who called himself Ganondorf, came here to demand that we relinquish the Spiritual Stone of Fire to him. Of course we refused him the Goron's Ruby, our race's prized artifact. We don't just give our treasures away without good reason, especially not to men like him. It wasn't long after that our Dodongo's Cavern became infested with beasts and was sealed up, blocking us out entirely."

Fleur nodded as she took in Darunia's words, and an idea came to her.

"What if I could somehow solve the problem in Dodongo's Cavern. If I could make it so that you could all get in there again, back to the way things were before Ganondorf showed up, would you consider giving me the Stone?"

Letting out a small chuckle, Darunia was then silent for a moment before answering. "I've no doubt that you are a brave young lass, but if all the Gorons together cannot find a solution to this problem, I highly doubt you will be what saves us."

Determined, Fleur straightened up. "At least allow me to try. Do we have a deal?" Fleur held out her arm to offer a handshake.

Hesitantly, Darunia extended a large hand to envelop Fleur's, which was tiny in comparison, and together they shook on the agreement.

Darunia then walked over to a nearby chest of drawers. "Well, Fleur, I wish you the best of luck. I certainly hope that you can prove me wrong. In any case, I want you to take a pair of these." He reached inside the top drawer and pulled out a smaller version of cuffs like the ones he wore on his own arms. He handed them to the Kokiri, who pulled them onto her wrists. Darunia continued, "If you wear these, even a little person like yourself can pick up Bomb Flowers. You may have seen some on your way in. They are bombs that grow as plants around here. Just be careful when using them: from the moment you pick them from their roots, the fuse is lit, and you don't have long before the whole thing explodes. I think it goes without saying that you don't want to be holding it when that happens. Unfortunately, none of them grow around the entrance to Dodongo's Cavern, so we haven't been able to try blowing up that giant boulder."

With a small smile, Fleur looked up at the Goron boss. "Exploding plants? Noted."

"Well, it is no good for you to head out there now, it is past dark. There is a room you can stay in for the night, and you can do whatever you need to do tomorrow."

"That sounds great, thank you so much. I swear, I'll try my hardest to help you and your people."

Laughing, Darunia looked down at the young woman, "Well you will have to if you want that Spiritual Stone!" He began walking to the mouth of the tunnel. "Follow me, and I will show you where you can stay."

Darunia then led Fleur out into the main cavern of Goron City, and took her up a flight of stairs. On that level, he showed her to a tunnel that led to a small room. The room only contained a bed and a tiny end table, both carved of stone, like most things in the city. A pillow lay next to a couple of folded blankets that rested upon the bed.

"We do not usually have non-Goron guests stay the night, so I apologize if the bed is a little... stiff."

"This will be fine, thank you." Fleur crossed the room to sit on the bed.

"Before I go, I want to ask a favor of you. I noticed when you first came in that you were holding an Ocarina. It has been so long since any kind of music was played here, do you know anything besides the Royal Family's melody that you could play for me?"

Fleur pulled her Ocarina from the side pocket on her pack and began to play the song Saria had taught her before she had left the Forest. She played it twice through, and when she finished, saw the glowing smile on the burly Goron's face.

"Thank you! I have always loved songs from the Forest. It has made me very happy to hear that, and there has not been very much happiness to go around these days."

"You're more than welcome. Thank you again, Your Highness."

"Likewise, Fleur. And again, I wish you luck tomorrow." With that, the Goron turned and left Fleur to her own devices.

Exhausted, Fleur flopped back onto the bed. "Today has definitely been the longest day of my life. It feels like today has been a week long; I suppose it didn't help that I spent last night fearing for my life in a tree."

Navi settled beside her human companion. "It's been a lot to take in, hasn't it? I myself hadn't expected Princess Hermione to be so in tune with what was going on, it's lucky for us that she already had a plan in mind."

Fleur smiled as she recalled that morning's experience with meeting the Princess of Hyrule. Although the day had been an arduous task of meeting new people and dealing with situations she'd never dreamed of, Fleur knew in her heart that Hermione was truly one-of-a-kind. Through the hectic flurry of the day's events, it was Hermione's warm brown eyes that stood out in Fleur's mind. Those chocolate orbs had entranced Fleur from the moment she saw them. It was hard to get Hermione's face out of her head, especially knowing that the Princess's beauty was backed by fiery determination, raw intuition, royal elegance and a keen intellect. Letting out a slight sigh, Fleur's thoughts came out before she could stop herself: "She really is something, isn't she? I can hardly even believe it. I've never met anyone like her before."

"What do you mean?"

Blushing, Fleur made an attempt to compose her thoughts. "Well, um, you know, what you said. It was great that she knew what to do."

"Mhm. I'm sure that's all." Fleur couldn't help but feel that there was a distinct smirk behind Navi's response.

"Well even with Hermione's plan, I still don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. This is going to be quite the challenge, I can feel it."

"It will definitely be a challenge, but it's you who has been chosen to take on these challenges and overcome them. We'll find a solution somehow. For now, though, it's best we rest up."

Emitting a rather large yawn, Fleur sat up long enough to remove her boots, and grab a blanket to cover herself up. "Agreed."

Not even a full minute had passed before the Kokiri was sound asleep, breathing softly into the quiet night.

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><p>AN: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm on a new method that consists of writing a lot farther than the content I upload, so the next chapter is almost entirely written. However, I won't upload that until I get most of the way through the chapter after that...and you get the idea. This way I can go back and edit things to make the entire story better without having to come back and replace chapter content and such. I'm confident it'll make the story better in the long run. I'd greatly appreciate it if you took the time to post a review, no matter how long or short, but even if you don't, thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: I know I had said I would try to update more quickly, but this chapter is long, and as it's more action-y type stuff, it takes me longer to write. I'm much better at writing romantic bits, but doing this story is my effort to do something a little different. I hope you all find it was worth the wait! The next chapter will have Fleur and Hermione meeting up again :)

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><p>Fleur awoke late in the morning, having been utterly exhausted by the previous day. The torch in her room had burned out as she slept, but the room was now dimly lit by rays of light that found their way down the tunnel to her quarters. Sitting up and stretching, Fleur reached to her bag to find some of the food she had brought along with her. An apple and a heel of bread became her breakfast, as Navi slowly woke up beside her. After eating, Fleur donned her boots, shouldered her pack and left the room.<p>

Fleur saw that during the daytime, the entire cavern was well lit by shafts of light coming in through the ceiling. Several slots had been cut in the rock, leading skyward, allowing the glow of the bright sun to bathe Goron City in a golden hue. There were still only a few Gorons to be seen, leaving Fleur to guess that most of the city's population was hidden away in the tunnels. Fleur ascended the multiple staircases, walked past the log doors and out into the entrance way of Goron City. She looked up at Navi.

"I guess maybe we should start with checking out the tunnel to Dodongo's Cavern, and see what it is we're up against."

Navi bounced in the air in response. "That's a good idea, let's go!"

Together, Fleur and Navi made their way back down the mountain trail to where they met their first Goron, which was also the site of the giant boulder that was blocking the Dodongo's Cavern. The Goron was still in the same place the pair had left him yesterday, and at their approach, he hoisted himself up, took in the sight of the two descending the trail and scoffed.

"I told you that you'd be turned away. Can't say I didn't warn you."

Fleur smirked. "We weren't turned away, actually. We're here to see what we can do about getting rid of this boulder."

The Goron let out a sarcastic bark of laughter, "Good luck with that! We Gorons have been trying to get rid of this thing ever since it was put there. There isn't anything you can do that we haven't already thought of."

Frowning, Fleur stalked past the creature, and examined the boulder closely. "We'll see about that..."

Fleur walked from one side of the rock to the other, and saw that it was aggressively wedged into place so that nothing could get by at any angle; the passageway was thoroughly barricaded. Knowing it would be a fruitless effort, Fleur pressed her weight against the rock just so that she could be sure she had exhausted every avenue in completing her task. The boulder, of course, remained firmly in place, and the Goron nearby erupted into sarcastic laughter at watching the Kokiri girl struggle. Scowling, Fleur then produced her Ocarina, to see if Hermione's Lullaby would have any kind of influence over the rock. The only sound that answered her song was another chuckle from the Goron.

"What's your name, anyway?" Fleur demanded of her critic, stomping over to him in frustration.

"Dangoro."

"Well, Dangoro, maybe you yourself could be of some help instead of just being an annoying spectator."

"How so?" The Goron looked puzzled.

"You say that your people have tried everything to get back into the Dodongo's Cavern. I need to know what 'everything' is. What exactly have you tried?"

Dangoro motioned to a rock that sat next to him, where Fleur took a seat as the Goron collected his thoughts. "Well, let's see. At first, we tried what you just did. A few of us got together to try and move the boulder by pushing it, and of course that didn't work. Big Brother then got everyone to come down here so we could all try it together, but as you can see, the rock is wedged too far in."

Fleur nodded for him to continue.

"Then we tried Bomb Flowers, but we quickly found out that they didn't work. They would always explode before we could get them all the way down here to the entrance. That effort definitely wore us out. I mean, we're a sturdy people, but one too many explosions takes the good out of you. Even if we tried planting some down here so that they were close, by the time they matured, we'd likely all be dead anyway..."

"Yeah, your King mentioned the Bomb Flowers... what about mining? Have you tried digging your way in?"

"Of course we have! Unfortunately, the rocks that make up the tunnel are incredibly hard, and our tools aren't strong enough to break through. But there's a tunnel within the city that we always knew ran close to the Cavern, and so we tried excavating down there. It looked like we were making some good progress when we ran into more of that same solid rock. We couldn't bypass it no matter what direction we tried, and King Darunia said that it's likely the whole of Dodongo's Cavern is encased in it."

"Anything else?"

Dangoro sighed. "I'm afraid not. There are only so many of us, and most of our people were worn out in the other attempts I just described. Big Brother sent someone down to Hyrule Castle to ask the King of Hyrule for help, but he never came back. No one else has it in them to make the journey. I know it doesn't seem far to you, but we Gorons move at a much slower pace. Compared to you, it would take much longer for us to reach Kakariko Village. We can roll at great speeds, but that requires strength to maneuver and stop ourselves, and no one here has that kind of energy left in them."

"I guess you _have_ tried everything..." Fleur stood and wandered back over to the boulder.

Dangoro, Fleur and Navi all remained silent, each deep in thought about the predicament at hand. A minute or two had passed when Navi swooped down to settle on Fleur's shoulder.

"Maybe not everything... it seems like they've tried most ways of getting into the Cavern. However, I can't help but think that Bomb Flowers are the answer," the fairy slowly commented.

Fleur cocked her head in reply. "But how? Dangoro said that they couldn't get them down here in time. They'd still be on the path down when the bombs would explode."

"Maybe the path isn't the answer. Look up there," Navi gestured to part of the mountain high above the boulder, "if my sense of direction is correct, the path leads away from where we are, and up around the mountain completely. I think both this plateau and the entrance to Goron City are on the south side of Death Mountain."

"Uh-huh, but I don't see where you're going with this yet."

"Imagine if we could simply drop Bomb Flowers on top of this boulder. Then they wouldn't need to be carried all the way around the mountain."

The idea clicked in Fleur's head. "You're right! The distance would be much shorter, and the bombs would have a good chance of remaining intact before hitting the boulder! Navi, you're a genius!"

Dangoro stood by, bewildered, as Fleur hurried past him and back up the trail. Before she was out of sight, Dangoro heard the young woman's voice call back to him. "You might want to follow us up here. If my plan works, you won't want to be anywhere near that rock!" Shrugging, Dangoro started shuffling his way back up towards Goron City.

Fleur soon reached the entrance to the city and stopped to take in her surroundings. The sun was definitely shining at the same angle up here as it had down on the plateau. Trying to calculate her exact position in relation to the boulder below, she faced the log doors, imagining she was facing the boulder. Then, looking to her left, she was met with a rock wall that stood about 20 feet high. A patch of Bomb Flowers grew near the log doors of the city, and Fleur decisively marched over to them.

"It won't hurt to try, at least." Navi 'hmm'ed in response, understanding what the young blonde was about to do.

Squatting down, Fleur gripped one of the bombs and plucked it up from the ground. A hissing noise started the second she began to stand up. Not knowing exactly how long the Bomb Flowers lasted once picked, she ran as fast as she could to the stone wall, set the Bomb down and ran to the other side of the clearing. A few seconds after she had stopped and turned back to watch, the bomb exploded, causing the wall to crack in several places. Fleur headed back to the patch to finish the job. As she reached her safe distance yet again, waiting for the second bomb to explode, a couple of Gorons emerged from the city gates just in time to see the bomb explode, and the wall give way, crumbling down into the clearing.

"HEY! What are you doing?!" exclaimed the Goron nearest to Fleur.

Without answering, Fleur rushed over to where the wall had been destroyed, and sure enough, as she crouched down to peer over the edge, she could see the boulder below.

"YES!" Fleur exclaimed, hopping back up and doing a little happy dance.

"HEY! Excuse me! What do you think you're doing out here? Why are you trying to bomb the city? Don't you think we've got enough problems as it is!?" The Gorons now sauntered over to Fleur, all of them entirely angry.

"I wasn't trying to bomb the city! Just... look, look down there!" Fleur pointed to the boulder. The group moved to the edge of the clearing to see where Fleur had indicated.

One of the younger Gorons in the group turned to look at Fleur. "... okay? So what?"

The Kokiri sighed. "_So_, now we can bomb the boulder and get into Dodongo's Cavern! If we drop the bombs from up here, they won't explode prematurely! Come on and help me, if we each grab one from that patch, and all drop them down to the plateau at the same time, we should be able to at least put a dent in that thing!"

The eyes of each Goron in the small group immediately brightened at the idea. Together, they all picked up a bomb, brought it over to the edge and let them all drop down to the area below. Most of the bombs landed relatively close to their target. Their nervous anticipation was quickly rewarded with the resounding boom of an explosion, and they watched excitedly as chunks of the boulder went flying across the plateau.

Cheering, the group of Gorons turned to Fleur. She smiled at them, "One more round should clear it out of the way entirely. Let's do it!"

As predicted, the next explosion cleared any remnant of the boulder from the mouth of the tunnel to Dodongo's Cavern, officially rendering it accessible. The Gorons cheered again. The youngest one cried out, "I'm going to go tell Big Brother!" And with that, he ran back inside Goron City.

Fleur stood tall, admiring her handiwork, and then beamed at Navi, thanking her for her brilliant idea. It only took a few short minutes for the small Goron to return, with King Darunia trailing behind him. The King at first looked dismayed at the mess of rock that was now littered across the entrance to Goron City, but when he caught sight of Fleur, a small smile graced his face, and he walked over to where the others were standing.

"Good day, Your Highness. Sorry about destroying some of the wall up here, but it was necessary." Fleur started, giving a small bow as she spoke.

"This young one here tells me you've managed to open Dodongo's Cavern?"

"See for yourself!" Fleur stepped aside and motioned below. King Darunia's face turned to an expression of amazement when he took in the sight before him. Turning to Fleur, he spoke incredulously. "You did it! I can hardly believe my eyes, but you've done it!"

Clapping his enormous hands together he looked at the group as a whole. "Now, we all know that before the Cavern was sealed off, there were some reports of seeing a few strange creatures inside, other than the native Dodongos. We can't all go rushing back in there without inspecting it first, as it could still be quite dangerous."

"Well, King Darunia, I did say as part of my deal that I would get things back to the way they were before that Gerudo ever showed up on your doorstep. I'll make sure the coast is clear," Fleur offered.

"You continue to impress me, young lady. Darbus!" One of the older Gorons straightened up and stood to attention.

"Yes, Big Brother?"

"I want you to head into the city and see which Gorons have enough strength left for a little adventure into the Cavern."

"Yes sir!" Darbus left the group to complete his task.

Darunia looked to Fleur, "My plan is this: A guard of Gorons will accompany you into the Cavern. For now my main goal is getting my people fed. We cannot clear the Cavern of dangers until we have the strength to do so. The guard will establish a safe zone at the beginning of the cavern, far enough in to find nutritious rocks. If you choose to continue on, I cannot guarantee you much help. If anyone decides to go with you, that is their choice and their responsibility. Once we have recovered enough of our health, more Gorons will be available to assist you."

Fleur nodded her agreement. The group was then distracted by Dangoro emerging from the mountain path. He took in the sight before him before looking at Fleur. "What the heck did you do!"

Fleur laughed, "My plan worked." Still confused, Dangoro walked over to the group and was brought to the edge so he could see the plateau. The other Gorons explained to Dangoro what had transpired, and as they finished, Darbus and a few more Gorons appeared at the city gates. Moving away from the edge of the clearing, King Darunia gathered the whole group at the platform in the centre which held the carving of the Goron crest.

"What we're going to do is clear enough debris to make space for a safe zone just within Dodongo's Cavern. Once that is established, it will be under constant guard so we can start extracting enough rock to feed everyone in the city. You volunteers will be guarding the area to keep it safe. For your effort, you will also get to be the first to eat, so that you can work up some strength to do your jobs. This young Kokiri here is Fleur, and she will be going with you to explore the Cavern for other dangers. If any of you wish to accompany her farther into the Cavern, it is your own decision, just make sure there are enough of you left behind to guard the safe zone. I wish you luck. I'll organize the rest of the city up here, and we should be down to meet you there in an hour or so."

King Darunia then turned to head back inside the city, and Fleur looked at the group of Gorons surrounding her. She had 14 companions in all, and after getting various signals of affirmation from them all, she began the walk down to the plateau. As they reached their destination, the Gorons immediately set to work clearing the rubble, moving the larger pieces of rock to the edges of the area so that those who came down later would have room to gather. Once the space was cleared to their satisfaction, they hovered around the mouth of the tunnel, all unsure of who was to be the first one to go inside. Noting this, Fleur walked past them all and headed straight into the Cavern.

The tunnel was long, and made of a white kind of stone, which Fleur assumed was the stronger kind of rock that the Gorons were unable to break through. The passageway twisted and turned in several places before finally coming out into a small chamber. The opposite end of the chamber was piled high with rubble, and as the rest of the Gorons filed into the area, Darbus spoke up.

"The main cave is beyond that pile. I guess between the disturbances down here and our efforts at blasting, there might be more instances where doorways are blocked. Luckily the whole of Dodongo's Cavern has Bomb Flowers growing throughout, so it should be an easy fix." The Goron then grabbed a nearby bomb and lobbed it at the pile of large rocks. Everyone then backed away as far as the chamber would allow, and waited for the blast to clear the doorway.

Once the dust settled, Fleur was awed with the view of the main interior of Dodongo's Cavern. A wave of heat rolled over her as she stepped through the doorway and gawked at her surroundings. What was the most remarkable was the head and arms of an incredibly large lizard emerging from the back wall. The head was at least 50 feet high, towering over everything else in the vicinity. Its chin rested on a larger platform in the centre of the room. A great bridge spanned across the cave above the lizard's head. Lava covered parts of the floor, leaving some small islands intact within the pools. Fleur could make out other tunnels leading away from the main chamber. Seeing her mouth agape with awe, Dangoro approached her, laughing heartily.

"Quite a sight, isn't it? That there's a Dodongo. The biggest that ever existed, as far as we know. It's made of mud and clay, but the real skeleton lies beneath. Our ancestors made the statue as you see it now. The only ones I've ever seen are nowhere near that big, only youngsters. This whole place is much, much bigger than you'd think. We've only ever operated in this main room here and a couple of the tunnels you see off to the sides. I don't even know anyone who's been up as high as that bridge you see up there. But this place goes onward and upward, burrowing far under the mountain. Again, it's nothing anyone alive today has seen, but there are stories of ancient Gorons exploring the area and coming across great beasts like this one. We've never had any issues with the Cavern until now, this place was largely abandoned by the Dodongos long ago. Only a few remain, and they don't give us any trouble as long as we leave them alone."

"Wow, you guys really have a history here, don't you?"

"This is an incredible place," Navi commented.

"For generations, we Gorons have inhabited this mountain. There are other Goron tribes in other lands, but we rarely see anyone else. This has been our home as far back as our stories go. Big Brother knows more about the history of our race than anyone else in Hyrule, you should ask him about it sometime."

"I will." Fleur looked around to the other Gorons. "So how far do we need to go in before you can start mining for food?"

Darbus stepped over to join Fleur and Dangoro. He pointed to the closest tunnel that sat to their left. "If we could get in that first tunnel that should do it for the time being."

With no immediate danger to be seen between the group and the tunnel, Fleur started picking her way down the shallow slope that led to the first row of tunnels. Just inside the tunnel lay a barrel full of torches. Dangoro grabbed one, and headed down another nearby slope to the edge of a lava pool. Holding the torch slightly above the surface of the molten liquid, it only took seconds for the fuel-laden cloth to ignite. Dangoro returned to the group.

"The light from the lava is enough to see in here, but the tunnels get dark," the Goron explained. He then led the way into the tunnel, with Fleur, Navi and Darbus following close behind. A couple of the other Gorons set up a barrier between the first and second tunnels so that the entrance to the one they were exploring was protected. The group wasn't far into the tunnel at all when a high-pitched shriek echoed down the way, followed by what could only be the sound of wings. A swarm of leathery-winged, black creatures came swooping down on them, causing everyone to duck. Everyone except Dangoro, who waved his torch wildly around, to fend off the attackers.

"Keese!" shouted Darbus. "They're usually not so aggressive!"

The flock of Keese finally moved past the group and out into the main chamber of the Cavern, where they dispersed and roosted again. "That's strange," noted Dangoro, "Keese don't usually behave like that. They might give you a bit of a fright every now and again, but they've never actually aimed themselves at us."

Fleur looked at Navi, and they shared a knowing glance. Strange behaviour in normally peaceful creatures was a scene that was all too familiar for the Kokiri girl and her fairy. The group continued on.

Fleur began to notice a change in the rocks of the tunnel. There were sections of the tunnel that were made of a blue color, unlike the strong white rock, or the reddish stones that she had previously seen on the mountainside. Wherever the blue rock was found, bits of it had been chipped and dug away. The tunnel then turned, and as the group moved around the corner, a whole section of tunnel lit up in flame, revealing not only a wide expanse of blue rock as the tunnel ended, but a big lizard facing them on all fours breathing fire. As its flame died away, the torchlight revealed that the creature was long and green, with stony ridges on its back and a small horn between two large eyes that occupied either side of the beast's head.

Fleur jumped back in fear. She had not been expecting enemies like this. Darbus stepped in front of her. "Now, this is the size of Dodongo that we're used to dealing with. Let us take care of it, we're a little more impervious to flames than you are."

Dangoro handed Fleur his torch, and the two Gorons together advanced upon the Dodongo. As the lizard reared up and shot out a second blast of fire, Dangoro lunged to the side while Darbus stepped in and braced his arms over his face to take the full force of the attack. The move Darbus had made allowed for Dangoro to get behind the Dodongo, and he spared no time in tackling the beast. He rolled both himself and the creature onto their sides, and Darbus moved forward to deliver a powerful blow to the Dodongo's head. A loud yelp came from the animal, and it writhed out of Dangoro's grip to make a swipe at the Gorons with its long, spiked tail. Dangoro was clipped by the movement, not having been able to get up from the ground, and was sent careening into the nearby wall with a heavy thud. The Dodongo quickly shot another burst of flame at the disoriented Goron.

The fight continued for another short while, with the Gorons working together to try and overcome the creature, who was putting up quite a resistance. Fleur watched, tension gripping every part of her body. Occasionally the battle would be lit up by a blast of fire from the Dodongo, and when it would die out shadows would once again play across the figures, at times making it hard to determine who had the upper hand. After a few more substantial hits to the head, the Dodongo was dazed enough to slow down and lose momentum in its attacks. The Goron pair seized the opportunity, and Darbus held the creature down from behind while Dangoro grabbed a nearby rock to deliver the final blow. The rock dashed the creature's head in, and a bit of blood sprayed across Dangoro's face and chest. Relieved, Fleur rushed forward to check on her companions.

Fleur soon realized that Gorons were hardier beings than she had given them credit for, as aside from a few minor scrapes, both Gorons were largely unharmed.

"That was unexpected," Darbus began, "it's not the first time I've fought a Dodongo... but usually when there's any kind of confrontation, a knock or two to the head and it goes running away. We've never had to kill one before."

"And the bugger put up quite the fight as well," Dangoro added.

"I'm not surprised," Fleur said, causing the two Gorons to give her a questioning stare, "before I came here we had trouble in the Kokiri Forest. The Great Deku Tree, our protector, had been cursed. All the creatures that we normally lived with in harmony had turned hostile, and there were even some other monsters that I'd never seen before. All of them would attack anything that came near. I'm guessing the same thing has happened here. We'll have to keep our guard up."

"Do you know what caused all of this?" Darbus asked.

"A man from the Gerudo Desert, named Ganondorf. He's been trying to get the Spiritual Stones from the races that have them. Darunia believes he is the one who sealed off the Cavern here, and he's right. He was the one who cursed the Great Deku Tree as well."

"Wow," started Dangoro, "he must be an incredibly powerful man. I'm glad Big Brother didn't give in."

Fleur handed the torch back to Dangoro, who held it up high to illuminate all the blue rock that surrounded them.

"This is the stuff we eat, all this blue stone. And there's enough of it here to give a meal to the entire city. This will be our safe zone. Darbus, why don't you head back to the others and get another group to come in here to start mining?"

Darbus inclined his head and turned around to head back to the rest of the group. Dangoro stretched out his arms, taking the opportunity to relax while they were in a safe place. As the Goron turned to Fleur and her fairy, he found the blonde deep in thought.

"What's up?"

Fleur hesitated a moment before replying, "Well, I'm trying to figure out exactly what I need to do here. We know that Ganondorf was responsible for cursing both the Deku Tree and this cavern. Back in the Forest, the creatures were all hostile, the same as in here... yet I ended up fighting the Queen Gohma, who normally ruled the spiders in the Forest. Looking back, it seems like she was the main manifestation of Ganondorf's curse, which in turn affected all the lesser creatures in the area. I'm wondering if there's something in here that's also been the target of the curse, the destruction of which would release everything else from whatever evil magic binds them."

Dangoro put a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm... well that makes sense to me. Most of the tunnels along this row end at a certain point, like this one. But others go deeper into chambers and such, there's certainly more to be explored in here."

"Well I guess I should go check it out." Fleur then started out towards the tunnel's opening. Dangoro followed her out, where they found Darbus organizing the other Gorons in the group. He waved in acknowledgement when he caught sight of Fleur, Navi and Dangoro. Darbus finished his conversation and came over to Fleur.

"So I've got a crew ready to go in and start gathering food. I've got one sent outside to wait for Big Brother and everyone else. The last couple are going to stay here to guard the tunnel entrance from anything that might come along."

Dangoro nodded his agreement. "Sounds good. Fleur needs to check out some of the other passageways that lead farther in, so I'm going to accompany her for the time being."

Darbus perked up at the statement. "Well, then I'm coming too! It clearly took the two of us to take care of that Dodongo. Everyone here will be okay until Big Brother shows up, they can spare the both of us to help our young adventurer here." He smiled as he looked at Fleur, who smiled back.

"Thank you for the help, you two. It'll be nice to have some company along for the ride who are knowledgeable about this place. So where would you suggest we start?"

Darbus was the first to speak, "All these tunnels here we've made ourselves, but the ones on the far side of this room are a lot older, made before my time. Chances are one of those will take us in deeper." The Goron then gestured across the biggest pool of lava in the room, much to Fleur's dismay.

After Dangoro took a few torches from the nearby barrel to bring along, the group walked down to the edge of the lava pool, and Fleur could hardly believe the immense heat that the lava gave off.

"Ahhh! That's so hot!" The Kokiri backed up a ways to escape the heat. The Gorons chuckled.

"Aw, come on, it's not so bad. Either way, we need to cross these pools in order to reach the tunnels, so you'd better get used to it for the time being."

"I'm not built like you! If I fall in, I die. Seeing you guys came from the mountain, and taking into account your extreme passiveness regarding this lava, I assume it wouldn't kill you?"

"No, it wouldn't. It might hurt a bit if we stood in it for a long time, but we're built to endure living in this volcano. Although, it's been said that some of our ancestors used to drink lava. I can't imagine doing it though, it doesn't look very tasty." Dangoro focused on the lava before him.

"Taste, yeah, _that's_ what I would be worried about." The blonde didn't try to hide her sarcasm, and followed her statement by backing up a bit, taking a few running steps and leaping onto the nearby island.

The islands in the lava pool weren't too far away from each other, although that didn't stop Fleur from being nervous every time she hopped from one to another. Dangerous situations were still something the Kokiri was still adjusting to. The Gorons bounded after her, and crossing a few more islands, the group found themselves on the opposite side of the main chamber. Upon closer inspection, Fleur noticed that one of the tunnels had the Goron sigil carved above it. Deciding the tunnel before her was the best option to explore she walked into the entranceway, gesturing for her Goron comrades to follow her. Dangoro lit a torch from the lava, and both Gorons followed Fleur into the tunnel. The floor of this passageway was made of loose dirt, unlike the sturdier structure of the other ones Fleur had been in so far. It didn't take very long before they all heard a rustling sound coming from beneath their feet.

Before they could guess at what was approaching, a big, green larva popped out of the dirt, which had a head somewhat like the Dodongo they had fought earlier. The creature leaped into the air, going for Dangoro's face. The Goron swatted it out of the air, and it landed a short distance away, only taking a second to regain its bearings and started slithering for the group yet again.

"These are Baby Dodongos! I've only ever seen one a couple of times, they're normally terrified of us!" Darbus exclaimed, to which Dangoro quickly replied, "Well these aren't. Come on, we've got to get through." As they tried to press on, more of the Baby Dodongos emerged from the soil at their feet. The two Gorons kicked and swatted at them, while Fleur held up her shield whenever one jumped at her. She didn't want to kill them if it could be avoided. If these creatures were native to the Cavern, then she knew they were only acting under Ganondorf's curse, and luckily, these beasts were small enough that extreme violence could be avoided. The Baby Dodongos were relentless, plaguing them until they reached a higher level in the tunnel, accessible by a ladder. Fleur ascended first, and Dangoro handed up the torch while Darbus kicked away the last of their pursuers. The higher level was made of stone, so the creatures couldn't burrow up to get to them.

They continued along the tunnel, and eventually came to a room with a patch of Bomb Flowers in it. A couple of statues also stood in the room, each in the image of a bull-warrior. The figures had large horns and were upright, each carrying a small shield and a short sword. There was an immense door on the right wall of the room, but it was barred with metal rods. Fleur noticed something odd in the patch of Bomb Flowers, and walked over to take a closer look. What sat amongst the plants appeared to be a big pressure switch, and sure enough, when Fleur stepped on it, the metal rods slid away, allowing the door to be opened. Darbus opened the door and stepped through. As Fleur stepped forward, the metal bars slid back into place once her weight was removed from the switch, leaving Darbus on the other side of the bars.

"Seriously?" Dangoro breathed, still trying to catch his breath from fighting off the Baby Dodongos. Fleur simply pointed at one of the statues, and between the two of them, they pushed and pulled the statue on top of the switch. It did the trick, and the group was able to continue on. This time, as they walked the length of the next tunnel, Fleur could feel the temperature rising with every step she took. A feeling of unease settled over her, as she was not equipped to handle the conditions of the volcano. Unsurprisingly, the passage led to a room full of lava, with more islands scattered about that were still within jumping distance of one another. The far side of the room was a solid wall of lava, pouring down from somewhere up above. The ceiling was too high to make out, and Fleur deduced this was clearly the lower portion of a sizeable area.

A loud squawk drew Fleur's attention back down, as she quickly looked around for the source of the noise. Darbus, however, had already spotted the threat.

"No... I thought these things were only legends! A Lizalfos hasn't been seen in generations!"

The beast before them was reptilian, however unlike the Dodongos, it stood on two legs. Clearly at a greater intelligence level than the previous beasts, the Lizalfos was equipped with a set of pauldrons on its shoulders and it carried a long dagger in hand. The beast squawked again, and bounded its way over to the group. As it leaped from one platform to the next, Fleur drew her sword, readied her shield and stepped in front of the two Gorons.

"I feel that for once, I'm better equipped to take on this enemy." Her Goron companions backed away in agreement.

Fleur hopped from foot to foot, awaiting her enemy, feeling the adrenaline pulsing through her veins. The Lizalfos jumped from platform to platform, and as it reached Fleur, flung itself into the air with another loud squawk before landing before her, dagger poised at the ready. The creature lunged forward in a flash, aiming a swift stab at Fleur which she sidestepped, allowing the blow to graze off of her shield. Fleur retaliated in kind, stabbing forward with her shield, hoping to take advantage of her scantily armoured enemy. To her surprise, the creature was much faster than Fleur had anticipated, darting to and fro, proving that it had no need to carry a shield.

This skirmish became much quicker in pace than the sluggish, albeit powerful, blows delivered by the Gorons. Fleur and the Lizalfos danced about, slashing and deflecting, each trying to out-step the other. The strikes came one after the other, and the young Kokiri warrior was put through her paces, testing the skills she had acquired thus far. Fleur made sure to keep her guard up at all times, as her enemy was relentless in trying to find the gap in her defences. As the Lizalfos stabbed at her head, Fleur ducked, and when she looked up again, her enemy was nowhere to be seen. Hearing a grunt behind her, Fleur jumped to the side, realizing quickly that the Lizalfos had sprung up on its thick, muscular legs and had jumped clear over her, looking to catch her from behind. Scrambling to get back on her feet, Fleur slashed out sideways with her sword, trying to throw out some kind of attack as a form of defense. The tip of her sword found the creature's thigh, slicing it open and causing the beast to scream out in pain.

Having regained her balance, Fleur could see that her attack had left the Lizalfos with a limp, and she knew that this was the attack that changed the battle in her favour. As the creature dragged its injured leg and turned to face Fleur head-on once again, the blonde girl leapt forward, aiming her sword to disarm her opponent. Unable to dart out of the way as it previously had been doing to counter her attacks, Fleur's blow landed true, effectively dismembering the hand that held the dagger. Not wasting her moment with the upper hand, Fleur plunged her sword deep into the creature's chest, and its remaining hand swiped across her face, leaving scratches along her cheek. Only a moment later, the Lizalfos drew in a final breath, collapsing on the ground. Fleur removed her blade from the dead creature and turned away.

Dangoro was the first to speak, "Are you okay?"

Fleur brought a hand up to wipe off some of the blood that now stained her face. "Yeah, I don't think the cuts go too deep. I'll be fine."

Darbus approached them with a smile. "Great job, Fleur! That was impressive!" Navi settled on Fleur's shoulder, "You're getting better by the day!"

"Thanks! I'm finally getting used to fighting, but I'm sure there's plenty more action where that came from." Fleur's companions nodded their agreement.

"I can't believe what we're seeing in here. A Lizalfos? We didn't know any even lived in here anymore... Things have truly gotten strange," Dangoro noted.

Darbus pointed to the a door far off to their left. "I guess this is our way onwards." The group navigated their way across the platforms, minding the lava below, and opened the large wooden doors before them to reveal yet another tunnel. The tunnel was narrow, and the group started along it, only able to walk in single file. Darbus led the way with their torch, followed by Fleur and Navi, while Dangoro took up the rear. After only a minute of walking, Darbus let out a gasp.

"Oh wow..."

Darbus stepped out into the newly revealed cavern so that Fleur and Dangoro could see what he had discovered: the entire cavern was made entirely of the blue rock that the Gorons loved. There were three natural columns in the area; the spectacular blue stone stretched from floor to ceiling. Only the immediate area could be seen from the firelight of the torch Dangoro held, but the space seemed to stretch out for quite some distance. As Dangoro moved forward with the light, a screech echoed off of the walls. The adventurers tensed, waiting to find out what their next opponent would be. A Dodongo emerged into the firelight from the shadows, and let out an enormous breath of flame, lighting up most of the cavern. Fleur took note of several unlit torches that lay about the whole area. Darbus passed the torch to Fleur.

"You can let us take care of this guy, you find out how to continue on from here." Fleur nodded.

Leaving the Gorons to deal with the Dodongo, Fleur advanced farther into the cavern. Keeping her back close to the wall, she made her way along the perimeter of the room, and eventually came upon a door much like the one they had found in the previous room. Pushing her weight against it, Fleur discovered that this door wasn't about to let her through. Noting that there was no keyhole, she looked around the room to try and locate some kind of mechanism that might be the key. As she searched, she lit the torches that were scattered about, anxious to leave no corner unexplored. Keeping a close eye on the Gorons, who seemed to have their battle in hand, Fleur examined every inch of the cavern. Finding nothing, she returned to where Darbus and Dangoro were now standing triumphantly over the corpse of the Dodongo. Fleur extended her arm to light the torch that had been too close to the fighting for comfort. Before she could explain their dilemma to her companions, a grinding sound was emitted from the door. Going back over, Fleur found that now a simple push of her hand opened the door with ease. The realization dawned on her: all the torches had to be lit in order for the door to open. The two Gorons smiled, and without questioning the Kokiri, joined her.

An enormous, rectangular pillar greeted them in the next room. The structure had Bomb Flowers all around its base, and some Bomb Flowers also grew in patches in the corners of the room. No other doors or tunnels were present, causing the group to look around in confusion.

"I don't get it." Darbus announced.

Dangoro walked along the perimeter of the room, running a hand along the rocks as he paced. "All of this feels pretty solid, not like the stuff we can usually bomb."

"Well, if we can't bomb the walls..." The Gorons turned to look at Fleur, whose gaze was focused on the pillar. "Stand back, guys." The blonde grabbed the nearest Bomb Flower and hurriedly placed it among the bombs at the pillar's base before backing up as far away as the room would allow. Turning her face away, Fleur clapped her hands over her ears and waited. Seconds later the bomb exploded, detonating the other Bomb Flowers that grew around the pillar, causing a cascade of explosions to encircle the structure. The roar of the blasts was soon joined by the sound of rock sliding on rock, turning the space into a cacophony of deep, rumbling roars from the stone around them. When the noise finally ceased, and the dust settled, Fleur removed her hands and straightened up. The pillar had slid farther down into the floor of the room, which, much to the group's surprise, revealed a staircase that had all the while sat at the top of the pillar.

The group climbed the steps to the top, only to find another tunnel, which they quickly walked down. The end of the tunnel led back out to the main chamber of the Dodongo's Cavern, except the group was now high above the main entrance. A chiseled, rectangular stone lay near the edge of the walkway they stood on. Stepping forward, Fleur read the inscription that had been carved into the stone:

"Giant, dead Dodongo...

when it sees red, a new

way to go will be open."

Fleur looked to the Gorons, "That's real... poetic." Darbus chuckled. "We Gorons are smiths of stones, not words." Fleur smirked and returned her focus to the inscription.

"Sees red... I guess that means we have to light the eyes on fire?"

"That sounds about right, but with what?" Navi said, flying up above their heads. "I don't see Bomb Flowers anywhere around here."

"Look!" Dangoro pointed to the far side of the cavern, where the giant Dodongo rested. "The bridge is over there. We're the first people to have come up here in a very long time! This is exciting!"

Fleur had to squint to pick it out in the dim light, but the Goron was right. The bridge she had seen upon first entering the Cavern spanned the width above the Dodongo's head, hanging from the ceiling by a series of ropes. The group moved along the walkway to where the bridge began. The bridge didn't look entirely sturdy, and Fleur tested the first boards by gingerly placing her weight on them while keeping a tight grip on the rope handrails. Inching herself out over the expanse of cavern, she soon turned back to her Goron sidekicks. Dangoro moved forward to test out the bridge, but as he lowered his weight down onto the first step, an audible crack could be heard. Eyes wide with fear, the Goron immediately backed away.

"Um, I don't think it can hold us all..." Dangoro said with a shaky breath.

"I agree. I suppose this is where we part ways?"

"For now." Darbus interjected.

"Of course. I guess you guys could head back to the group, and I'll see what else is up here to find." The Gorons agreed. "Good luck, Fleur."

"Thanks." The Kokiri turned and continued making her way across the bridge. Several Keese had roosted on the ropes in a few places, but they took flight whenever Fleur came near. As she passed above the giant Dodongo, Fleur could see that her path took her right over the two eyes the inscription mentioned.

"Well, this works out nicely, if only we had some Bomb Flowers..."

Navi hummed in response. "Maybe we'll find something up ahead."

Fleur finished crossing the bridge, and was left on a small platform. Looking up, she saw the Goron's symbol etched into what seemed to be a button of sorts. Seeing that the button was out of Fleur's reach, Navi flew up and pushed herself against it. The button refused to move under the weight of the tiny fairy. Getting an idea, Fleur pulled out her Slingshot, fished out a Deku Seed and took careful aim. The force of the seed was enough, the button moved inwards, and a section of wall moved up into the ceiling, revealing the mouth of a new tunnel.

As they walked, Fleur felt the familiar feeling of the temperature rising yet again. "Feels like more lava is in our future..." No sooner had the Kokiri uttered the words than the tunnel turned a corner, where the two could see the faint glow of fire bouncing off of the tunnel walls. Another room of lava and platforms awaited the pair, only this room had a column in the middle, with another Goron button on it. At the far side of the room, a chest rested upon a larger platform. However, the large platform was out of jumping range, and therefore, unreachable. Looking to the button for a start, Fleur pegged it with a Deku seed. This caused the platforms around the room to begin moving.

Fleur hopped back in surprise, but after discovering that her platform remained stationary, she watched the scene before her. It soon became clear that the moving platforms would indeed bring her closer to the chest, but the idea of jumping across expanses of lava on moving objects kept her rooted to the spot.

"...Fleur?" Navi moved in front of the young woman's face.

"Uh, this is... uh... I don't want to be burned alive."

"I know, I'd much prefer that didn't happen as well, but you don't have a choice. I don't see any other doors or tunnels in here. Whatever is in that chest is the key to getting any farther here."

Another few seconds passed where the duo simply watched the patterns of the platforms. Navi again was the first to speak. "See that? They pass fairly close to one another. As long as you time it right, you shouldn't have to jump any dangerous distances!"

"Easier said than done." Fleur took in a breath in an attempt to relax herself. It didn't work. Nonetheless, the young warrior moved to the edge of the platform she was currently standing on and stretched her legs a little. As the closest platform moved into range, she quickly hopped over to it. Navi stayed silent, not wanting to break her partner's concentration. Fleur steadied herself, keeping her knees bent, and rode the platform to where it would meet the next. Navi was right, the platforms did come fairly close to one another, but it didn't make the whole experience any less nerve-wracking.

A few jumps later, Fleur found herself only a couple platforms away from the chest. The young Kokiri leapt forward onto the next one, which she soon discovered spent much less time hovering near its counterpart than the other platforms previously had. It seemed she would have to tighten up her timing. As the platform neared the next, which a was stationary one, she leapt onto it, noticing that her next destination was already pulling away. With adrenaline kicked in, Fleur immediately made a second jump, and in doing so, almost overshot her landing. Her feet landed close to the edge of the platform, and she let herself fall backward onto the safety of the rock.

"Be careful!" Navi shot out at her friend.

Gathering her wits, Fleur stood again, seeing that she only had one final jump to make. She made it with ease, landing on the large platform. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Fleur sat on the chest, keeping her eyes to the floor, glad to be on somewhat solid ground again. As she stood to turn and open the chest, Fleur took in her surroundings. The larger piece she was now on jutted out over the edge of what Fleur saw was the waterfall she and the Gorons had spotted from the previous room of lava. Fleur could still make out the shape of the slain Lizalfos far below her.

Fleur opened the chest, which contained a bag that looked rather ragged, although it was made out of a thick, durable material. Within the bag were several small bombs. They were shaped like the ones you get from Bomb Flowers, except these could easily be held in one hand.

Navi bounced up and down in delight. "I guess this solves our bomb problem!"

"It does! I guess you could say that the lava hopping was worth a prize like this" Fleur said with a small laugh.

"I wouldn't be laughing yet, you've still got to get back to the tunnel." Fleur's grin was quickly sobered. She lashed the bag onto her belt, and took another couple of deep breaths before making the journey back across the floating platforms, this time taking extra care to calculate each jump properly. Fleur eagerly returned to the bridge, stopping when she was above the first eye of the Dodongo. Opening the bag of bombs, she pulled one out and dropped it directly below her. Not able to see exactly where the bomb landed, she was soon shown that her aim had been true, as a small explosion caused the eye to begin to glow an intense red. She moved along to make quick work of the second eye, and as the explosion went off that turned the second eye red, she heard a faint whoop echo up to her ears, followed by a distant yell of "Way to go, Fleur!" Fleur guessed that Dangoro and Darbus had made it back to the group and were watching her efforts from their safe zone.

For what seemed like the thousandth time since entering this place, a deep rumble began, as parts unseen moved around within the stone walls. The rumbling soon came to a stop, although Fleur could not see what had transpired. She jogged back to where they had all first come out to the top level of the cavern, and looking back at the Dodongo, could see that its mouth had now opened. Fleur didn't hesitate to make her way back through all the rooms they had discovered to emerge on the main level of Dodongo's Cavern.

Fleur noticed that many more Gorons had arrived to the safe zone, and as she hopped her way to where the Dodongo's mouth was, Darbus and Dangoro rejoined her. "You did it!" Darbus exclaimed.

"Yeah, I found this in the next room across the bridge." Fleur undid the bag from her belt and held it out.

"Oh wow, I haven't seen one of these in such a long time!" Dangoro started, "I think the last time one of these was around was when Big Brother gave one as a gift to the King of Hyrule! Only certain Gorons know how to grow Bomb Flowers so that they turn out all little and are able to be picked without lighting a fuse."

"That bag is made from a Dodongo's stomach." Darbus added, causing Fleur's face to scrunch a little in disgust. Darbus laughed, seeing the Kokiri's expression. "It's a good thing! The bag is able to carry the bombs, and won't be damaged if one ever happens to explode inside, which in turn means that it'll protect you as well."

"Alright, alright. It's still kind of gross, but I'm glad I have it." Fleur gestured to the mouth of the Dodongo. "Shall we?"

Darbus glanced back at the group. "Shouldn't we wait for Big Brother? He's still escorting our people down to the safe zone to get them fed."

"We've dealt with everything on our own so far," Dangoro argued, "I don't see why we shouldn't keep going for now." He then bent to light a new torch from the nearby lava.

"That settles it, then!" Fleur stepped into the Dodongo's mouth, followed by the two Gorons. As the group were about one hundred paces into the tunnel, a gust of hot, dry wind blew past them, extinguishing their only source of light, leaving them in complete darkness.

"Um, I'll go back and light the torch again. You guys wait here?" Dangoro's voice came from behind Fleur.

"Sure." Darbus agreed.

Fleur took another step forward, keeping her hand on the tunnel wall to her left. Taking another step, she voiced her thoughts.

"I wonder how much farther it is-ARGHHHH!" As Fleur's foot hit the tunnel floor, the ground gave way from beneath her, and she fell on her tailbone, feeling herself being surrounded by dirt.

"Fleur!" She faintly heard Darbus' cry, but she had been pulled beneath the floor, and was now sliding downward at an alarming rate, still unable to see anything. Fleur felt like her heart was in her throat, and she clawed at the rock around her in an attempt to slow her descent. She soon burst through a patch of soft gravel and landed hard on her back. Coughing, she rolled over to discern that she was now in a circular room, with a giant lake of lava in the middle. Hard rock made up the perimeter, and there was a giant tunnel on the opposite side of the room.

Dusting off the gravel, Fleur slowly got to her feet, sore from her landing. A bad feeling came creeping into her gut, and she was about to step away when she heard a high pitched noise come from the pile of dirt behind her.

"Navi?!" Fleur rushed over to start displacing handfuls of dirt, and soon uncovered her fairy companion, whom she picked up in both hands. "Are you okay?"

The fairy took flight, only to wobble uncertainly in the air and land clumsily on Fleur's shoulder. "Just a bit dazed, is all."

"You and me both. I don't like this place. Let's get out of here." Fleur once again got to her feet, and swiftly walked towards the big tunnel. As the two got near, however, a giant roar echoed out from the tunnel.

"... Now I really don't like this place." Fleur backed up against the nearest wall, as the sound of heavy footsteps started, becoming louder by the second.

A massive lizard emerged from the tunnel, about the same size as the one that adorned the main chamber of the Dodongo's Cavern. Its heavy, spiny tail smashed off of the tunnel walls as it walked, causing rocks to crumble down behind it, making the tunnel impassable for Fleur and Navi to escape down. Fleur took in the sight of the creature, noticing that the beast had a manic look in its eye. It brought her a sudden flashback of the Queen Gohma, who had possessed the same kind of expression. The Kokiri warrior then knew that this was her opponent, and much in the same way Gohma had been cursed, this Dodongo giant had also succumbed to Ganondorf's dark powers. Fleur readied her shield, and the clamour from doing so was enough to draw the beast's attention. It let out another terrifying roar and turned to fully face Fleur.

The Dodongo then reared up on its hind legs, tucked itself into a ball, and hurled itself towards Fleur. Not expecting this move, Fleur only just managed to dive out of the way, Navi still clinging to her shoulder. The Dodongo rolled around the perimeter of the room, banging off of the walls, and letting the curved corners turn it along the path, never hitting the lava. It stopped on the opposite end of the path that Fleur stood on, and, facing her, rose up to take a giant intake of breath. Guessing correctly at what was to follow, Fleur raced away from the beast as an enormous blast of flame was fired in her direction. Not giving her a single second to collect herself, the Dodongo was once again barrelling in her direction, rolled up so only its spiked back was exposed. Fleur hugged the nearest wall as the creature passed her within mere feet from where she stood.

"Fleur, use the bombs, I'm sure they're the answer!"

"How?!"

"I don't know! I just have a feeling!"

Fleur took a bomb out from the bag, and kept it in her right hand. The Dodongo had stopped closer to her this time, and as it turned, Fleur approached it tentatively. The beast again opened its gaping jaws to inhale for another large blast of flame, when Fleur saw her opportunity. She wasted no time in taking it, hurling the bomb through the air and into the creature's mouth. The giant lizard bucked as the bomb exploded, and in a defensive move, hurled itself forward again to roll into Fleur, who yet again dove out of the way. Picking herself back up, Fleur moved to corner the beast when it stopped rolling, and as it drew in breath, she lobbed another bomb into its mouth. This time, upon being hit with an explosion, the beast lost its balance a little, staggering into the stone wall of the room. Fleur could see she was making progress, and could win, so long as she didn't get knocked into the lake of lava.

After a third, and then a fourth bomb, the Dodongo became unsteady on its feet, rocking to either side as it tried to move. Jumping up a little to try and roll forward, the great beast did a single rotation and then collapsed onto the pathway. It picked itself up and made a desperate attempt to breath fire, but Fleur was ready and waiting with a bomb. The fifth bomb turned out to be the final one, and as it exploded, the giant Dodongo reeled toward the wall, and hit it with such force that it then teetered in the other direction. The lizard lost its balance entirely, and fell into the lake, where it slowly sunk into the lava, screeching out in pain. Its body vanished beneath the surface, and just as its head was about to follow, the whole lake suddenly crusted over, freezing the giant beast where it was.

Navi, knowing the danger had passed, lifted up off of Fleur's shoulder. "I think that was the King Dodongo, Fleur, look!" Navi floated over to the head of the beast, drawing attention to two small white marks that were on the creature's cheeks, much like the marks that King Darunia wore.

"I guess that's a symbol of royalty in these parts." Fleur suggested. Navi then flew past Fleur, and as she turned, Fleur saw a circle of blue light like the one she had witnessed in the Great Deku Tree after she killed the Queen Gohma. Knowing what had to be done, Fleur walked over and stepped into the circle, allowing the light to take her in. She felt her entire body being pulled, surrounded by blue light and a feeling of warmth that completely enveloped her. When she regained her vision, she was at the mouth of the tunnel to Dodongo's Cavern, surrounded by a mass of Gorons.

"Fleur! You're okay!" Darbus and Dangoro emerged from the crowd and hustled over to her. "What happened?" Darbus asked "One minute you were there and the next you were gone! When Dangoro came back there was no sign of you!"

"I was pulled underneath the floor, but I'm alright. Everything is okay now."

"Everything inside started shaking like crazy! We were afraid the whole place might fall apart so everyone came outside to evacuate."

"What? What happened?" They heard Darunia's voice boom through the crowd. The throng parted to reveal the King of the Gorons, looking slightly harried, but still retaining his regality.

"King Darunia, sir, I think the trouble is over. I found the King Dodongo, who had been cursed by Ganondorf. Unfortunately, slaying him was the only way to break the magic that bound him and all of the other creatures inside."

Darunia sighed, bringing a hand to his forehead to rub his temples. He remained silent as he took in this information, looking to the Cavern's entrance with a wistful expression. After a moment he allowed a tentative smile, and opened his arms toward Fleur.

"If that's what it took to save my people, then the price was well-paid. Thanks to you, we can once again eat the delicious rocks from the Dodongo's Cavern until our stomachs burst!"

The King's small smile slowly faded. "I still can't believe that the Cavern was cursed to such extremes. All of this trouble caused by one man... that Gerudo thief, Ganondorf! You, on the other hand, willingly risked your life for us."

Darunia then stepped forward to place his hands on Fleur's shoulders. "I want to make you a Sworn Brother of the Gorons!" The King boomed.

Darbus let out a small cough. Darunia looked to Darbus, and then to Fleur. "Oh!" he laughed heartily, "I guess this will be a first, a Sworn Sister of the Gorons!" The surrounding Gorons laughed and cheered.

Fleur laughed along with the others and looked up to meet Darunia's eyes. "It would an honour, Big Brother." The Goron King broke out into an enormous smile at hearing Fleur use the term.

"Also, Fleur, I want you to have this as a token of our appreciation." Darunia reached into a pouch hanging at his side and pulled out the Goron's Ruby. It was a rather large gem, the size of Fleur's palm, and the jewel was surrounded by gold to mimic the shape of the Goron crest. "You are welcome in the city of the Gorons anytime. We'll be holding a grand feast tonight to celebrate, but I'll understand if you head back to the village, as there's not exactly anything you can eat up here."

Laughing, Fleur pocketed the Spiritual Stone of Fire. "I appreciate the offer nonetheless. But I must continue on my quest."

"Well in that case, I wish you nothing but the best on your travels." Leaning in, Darunia whispered in Fleur's ear. "Not many people know this, but a Great Fairy lives on top of Death Mountain. If you plan to deal with Ganondorf, I think learning a bit of the Old Magic could help you out. Go see her if you have the time." Pulling back, Darunia extended his hand. Fleur took it gladly, and shook the King's hand to another round of cheers from the Gorons.

Darbus and Dangoro were the first to approach after the King took his leave.

"Thank you both so much for your help in there. I couldn't have done it without you."

The two Gorons smiled at their Kokiri friend and pulled Fleur in for a hug. "Anytime you need help, you know where to find us." Darbus stated.

"Yeah.. what he said." Dangoro laughed. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we're starving!" The Gorons all began making their way into the Cavern, and Fleur continued being congratulated by some of the Gorons passing by. As the last ones disappeared into the tunnel, Fleur looked up at Navi.

"That will certainly make for a wild story."

Navi laughed, "Definitely."

"We might as well go see the Great Fairy while we're up here, yeah?"

"I agree."

Fleur headed up the path to Goron City until she reached the sign that warned travellers of the Death Mountain pathway. Staring upwards, high above, to the summit of the mountain, Fleur couldn't help but sigh.

"I sure hope this will be worth it."

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><p>AN: Please read and review! Let me know what you think, all reviews are very much appreciated!


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